Secret Cities – Walk Me Home

The North Dakota trio’s likeable third album purloins in the best possible way: artfully. Bad Trip pits Marie Parker’s reedy vocals against a backing as fulsome and euphoric as prime Beach Boys. “I won’t try to mess with you, cos I burned that bridge long ago,” she coos on Playing With Fire, its piano-led arrangement simultaneously authentic and cod-Vaudevillian.

Elsewhere, the Farfisa woop of It’s Always Summer proffers a 50s girl group vibe. If it doesn’t quite compel or take hold at depth, that’s not necessarily a failing. Walk Me Home is studied, crafted with care and unconcerned with heartfelt bombast or emotional shorthand. It’s easy to like, but a treat perhaps best left to the fans who’ve been awaiting the band’s return from their (literally) day jobs. Reservations aside, it’s chamber pop of the highest order.