Sam Roberts Band's fifth studio album, 2014's
Lo-Fantasy, is a melodic, psych-inflected album that showcases
Roberts' knack for mixing gigantic, propulsive rock melodies and dance-oriented hooks. Produced by Britain's
Youth (aka Martin Glover), who previously worked with
the Verve and
Beth Orton in addition to clocking hours performing with
Paul McCartney and electronic giant
the Orb,
Lo-Fantasy follows up the group's well-received, rock-heavy 2011 album, Collider. A staple in his home country of Canada, and well-traveled in Europe,
Roberts is less well-known in the States. Subsequently, he's a bit of an underappreciated artist in the U.S., and fans of
Kings of Leon and
Maroon 5 would do well to check
Roberts' unique brand of groove-oriented rock. As with most of
Roberts' albums,
Lo-Fantasy is at once organically rootsy and studio sophisticated, with songs that straddle the line between stadium shouters ("We're All in This Together") and midtempo club anthems ("The Hands of Love"). At his core,
Roberts is a guitar-playing singer/songwriter, but some of the best cuts here, like the driving "Kid Icarus" and frenetic "Human Heat," evince a strong '80s, synth-centric new wave influence. The sound is even more apparent on cuts like the moody, disco-inflected "The Hands of Love," which brings to mind
Avalon-era
Roxy Music. Similarly, cuts like "Metal Skin" and "Chasing the Light," with their sleek keyboard sheen, sparkling guitar flourishes, and lightly funky rhythms, are sultry, '80s-meet-2000s productions. Word has it that
Roberts wrote these songs, not solely in his Montreal basement studio, but primarily in a sun-soaked house on a hill in Andalusia, Spain. True or not, it's certainly a warm, brightly hopeful album. Ultimately, though
Roberts may sing "You're not the only one who's flying too close to the sun," as he does in "Kid Icarus," with
Lo-Fantasy Sam Roberts Band burn more brightly than ever, but never crash. ~ Matt Collar