A decade in the making, Public Luxury is an unashamedly political exercise that never strays into preaching to the converted.
Delivered mostly in Spanish, it’s a blast of heat and light in dark times. Imagine early Pixies but they’re only playing Isla de Encanta and Kim isn’t letting Black Francis near the mic. And it’s not all screams and shouts; on tracks such as ‘Yellow Sun’, there’s a melodic softness that reveals a fragility under the surface, something which might even appeal to fans of The Killers.
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that an album that was ten years in the making may have a disjointed edge. That’s a blessing and a curse of course, the stylistic twists and turns offer something fresh with each track but makes for a slightly more…