This attitude is still a big part of their new record, Summer 08. It’s a record that feels like it’s defying many of the genre’s practitioners. It continues down a similar path to Love Letters, which was a huge success (in my books) because it embraced psychedelic rock within the electronic genre.

Summer 08 takes the band closer to electronic pop than ever before, embracing funk on the way, but it doesn’t feel like it’s a last-ditch effort to “go mainstream.” Actually, while the band feels more mainstream despite themselves, they still don’t seem concerned with following genre conventions.

I love the opening track: Back Together is a spastic, alt-rock inspired, Chromeo-like song that’ll get you tapping your feet. Even some of the more “pop” tracks, like the relatively low-key Hang Me Out To Dry, feels like it’s got just enough of an off-beat to it to defy mainstream convention and embrace Metronomy’s odd side.

Summer Jam feels like it’s been lifted straight from corny ’80s movies, even while it slowly spirals out and into itself again before it closes the record. Night Owl sounds inspired by the indie bands du jour, and Metronomy manages to make it their own despite doing their best Arcade Fire impression.

It’s hard to make logical, reasoned arguments for what makes Summer 08 such a good record. I’m struggling for words, because all I can say is that I have an involuntary emotional attachment to the record. I just like it, and it’s as simple as that. There’s no real criticism I can levy at it, because something about it stirs my soul and I enjoy it. If, by recommending it, you can have a modicum of the joy I get from the record, then I think I’ve done my job. Summer 08 is, in my eyes, a great record with sterling production, great ideas, and some fantastic ideas. Metronomy still surprises me every time.

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All of the greatness on this record comes from Little Dragon’s experience — this is their fourth record now — and from their innate sense of style. What makes Little Dragon great is their music’s intensity, and awareness of the live context. I love how each song on the record sounds like it’d be excellent live — it’s a different take on the electronic dance genre, that normally plays better when it’s performed on tape or by a DJ. Little Dragon is meant to play live.

Their experience with concerts definitely shines here. The singles are the most magnetic, energetic tracks on the record — the sort of thing Little Dragon would use to rile up a crowd. Paris is a great example of a song that relies on synths, but has the feel of a live band that would translate so well to a live audience.

Nabuma Rubberband is the sound of a band perfectly maturing and preparing for world domination. It’s a powerhouse of a record and a great sign of even more things to come as the band matures.

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It feels like Metronomy is playing with their audience, though: Monstrous is where the album takes off. And Love Letters is where it just explodes. Once Love Letters takes off, it really just goes from there and keeps going. Boy Racers is just fundamentally interesting, and it reminds me of some of the electronic trance music that was hitting the scene around 1998 or 1999.

None of that is to say that Metronomy are interested in pursuing the brand of pop that got them so many accolades before. They’re taking the Radiohead route and reacting to their success by running in the opposite direction as quickly as possible. They’ve traded in the precision of their earlier picture-perfect pop records for a warmer, more natural approach that feels more organic and (dare I say it?) traditional.

By the time the album ends with Never Wanted, you, well, never want it to end. So Love Letters is a slow burner, one that starts with its toes and works its way up, and that’s okay. Structurally, it reminds me of The Beatles’s Revolver — and that’s not a complaint.

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