Sun Q

Album Review

Four years on from their last release and nearly six years after their debut album Chotto Matte a Moment! arrived, IQU returns with their second full-length Sun Q. When most bands go on such an extended hiatus it's a red flag that all is not well, but Sun Q is in fact IQU's best work yet. They've traded some of the more overtly experimental and drum 'n' bass leanings of their earlier work for pretty, Asian flavored synth pop that's equally shiny and smart: the irrepressible "9th Line" sounds like Daft Punk gone Shibuya-kei, with electro beats, fuzz bass and tight, tinny guitars jostling for position. Though the sardonic vocals on the verses help keep the song from becoming too cutesy, the track's overall vibe conjures up images of toys and robots getting their groove on (the song also takes a bathroom break, one of the first songs to do so since Björk's "There's More to Life Than This"). This mix of style, wit, and just a slight bit of geekiness informs the rest of Sun Q, particularly on "Dirty Boy" — which also recalls Bis' first forays into synth pop, albeit with a slightly funkier edge — as well as on the fun, sushi-referencing "Hamachi" and a cheeky cover of Minnie Riperton's "Loving You," on which the band's theremins strain to reach some of the impossibly high notes the soul diva hit on the original. "Dirty Boy"'s ringtone and vocoder-laden funk-pop and the sweetly mischievous pizzicato strings and breathy vocals on "Crazy" show off IQU's range within their sound and also recall the late-'90s heyday of Shibuya-kei artists like Buffalo Daughter and Takako Minekawa. However, the album doesn't sound dated; indeed, its somewhat more recent retro stylings feel fresher than the '80s synth pop revival of the early 2000s. Sun Q isn't perfect: more than a few of the songs go on longer than they should, and occasionally IQU sound stuck between the indie leanings of their previous releases and the bigger, poppier sound they seem to be heading towards. But when the band is capable of songs like the soft rock meets dance-pop hybrid of the title track — which could've appeared in an alternate version of Lost in Translation with a more obviously happy ending — it's easy to overlook Sun Q's minor failings in favor of its immense appeal.