Wild Honey – Big Flash

The second LP from Madrid’s Wild Honey – essentially the work of multi-instrumentalist Guillermo Farré – is an unashamedly kitschy, backwards-gazing collection, drawing heavily on dreamy '60s outfits like the Zombies and Os Mutantes; a love of tropicalia and lounge is clear on songs like My Memory May Also Be a Wish. The influence of vintage pop throughout also brings Stereolab to mind – fittingly enough, since Tim Gane is on production duties, and has done an admirable job of giving Big Flash a sepia-tinted sheen.

The LP is saved from being a mere exercise in nostalgia by a plethora of instantly catchy melodies, combined with Gane’s deftness in moulding Wild Honey’s influences together: Farré himself notes that Gane managed to expand the ‘colour and rhythm palette’ of his songs in the studio. As a result, while the emotional range of Big Flash is fairly limited, its smoothness and cohesion make it immediately likeable.