The Phoenix Foundation: Give Up Your Dreams | Album Review

With album tie-in merchandise that includes a pillowcase (“quality 100% cotton”) and a sleep mask (“super soft”), there’s no doubt these New Zealanders have their tongue in their cheek in the right, clever way.

The sextet has taken some time to define their music (it has drifted from Fleet Foxes-like acoustic folk to Kaiser Chiefs-ish pop/rock) but Give Up Your Dreams, the band's sixth album, looks set to land substantial results.

Taking hints from native music acts such as Crowded House (and that band’s Neil/Tim Finn association), most of the songs here are akin to classic pop bangers that have almost gone out of fashion.

Tunes such as Mountain, Bob Lennon John Dylan, Celestial Bodies, Silent Orb and the title track thrum with more intensity than a vibrator on full power. Sleep mask? Pillowcase? I'm saying nothing.

thephoenixfoundation.co.nz