Trickle

Trickle by Olive

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As electronic music has been swallowed and spit back out by conventional pop, rock, and rap artists since the 1990s, the distinctions between what is techno and what is just studio-tweaked amplified guitar rock has noticeably blurred. While not as adventurous in those explorations of trip-hop and electronic music as contemporaries like Everything but the Girl or Sneaker Pimps, Olive nevertheless display a marvelous agility integrating a conventionally charming pop-rock sense with a more modern sound. With their hearts fully planted in verse-chorus-verse formats and big, hummable choruses, they still manage to twist their songs around deep, pulsing bass lines and rhythmically motivated transitions. The result is daringly melodic and accessible, yet every time the songs threaten to become too straight for their own good, bursts of electronica around the edges spice up the mix once again. Take the first song on the record, the blissed-out "Love Affair." Rhythmic depth in the chorus accentuates a simple chorus just enough, providing the spring that catapults the melody's hook into your brain. Light drum & bass colors "I'm Not in Love," a straightforward pop song save for the herky-jerky cadences and swirling keyboards that make it sound suddenly transcendent. Detractors could see Olive's music as a dumbed-down trip-hop for the masses, more "trip-pop" than Tricky. Still, when it's done with this much panache, regardless of whether it's a move forward or a move back, it's undeniably a lovely ride. --Matthew Cooke