Tanlines’ Mixed Emotions is an office favorite, teetering between spring and summer jam, teenage fun and thirtysomething responsibility, punk and trance. The band's not quite a yin-yang because there's not often a majority muddled by a tiny outlier, but a spirited, smooth blend of all of the above. Take the relatively easy going song "Yes Way," which contains a loping vocal and some digital xylophone-ish dawdling—it also has the same handclap drums as Lumidee's "Never Leave You (Uh Oh)" and a lightly employed use of Baltimore club rhythm. None of this is particularly obvious, which doesn't make it better or worse, but lightly disorienting, which is the best thing you can ask for from a pop group. Take a listen via NPR.
Stream: Tanlines, Mixed Emotions