Albums of 2011 # 7: Crystal Fighters - Star of Love

The Crystal Fighters debut album, Star of Love, was released in late 2010, initially coming out of nowhere to provide a lightweight and breezy soundtrack to the summer months, before going on to enjoy high rotation on my pod throughout the rest of the 2011 calendar year; whether that meant listening to the steady stream of remixes of the source material – and there were a fair few tracks and different versions to choose from – or simply returning to the album itself.

Star of Love is an Anglo-Spanish concoction of Basque folk, electro pop, and dance music with a punky edge to it. It’s bold and bouncy in parts, confident and fully formed, yet also dreamy and occasionally child-like … the variety of instrumentation being the key to its eclectic nature, something which included the use of traditional Basque wind and percussion instruments.

When combined with a state-of-the-art pop production, high bpms, and all manner of electronic wizardry we ultimately end up with an album that simply oozes fresh summery vibes; a perfect blend of world and western pop, and definitely one of the most under-rated debuts of the year.

I can’t wait to see what Crystal Fighters come up with next …

Download: ‘Champion Sound’ (video below), ‘Plage’, ‘In The Summer’, ‘At Home’, ‘With You’, and ‘Follow’.