Metronomy: Love Letters review – Heartache with a new-wave groove

While Alex Turner has been slowly easing his frame into the flesh-suit of an American 17-year-old from the 1950s, the reputation of the fey English frontman has been sustained almost entirely by Metronomy's Joe Mount. It is perhaps testament to his unwitting dedication to being coy and British that Love Letters is the quartet's most indie and foppish-sounding album yet: a string of lo-fi pop songs about heartache eccentrically nuanced with a new-wave groove. The winsome Most Immaculate Haircut is a sweet vignette to insecurity, and The Upsetter is just as wobbly-lipped as its title suggests, Mount meowing mopishly: "Why you giving me a hard time tonight?" In contrast, drummer Anna Prior's soulful backing vocals are glorious, and as her voice blossoms on Month of Sundays with the rapture of Minnie Riperton's Les Fleurs, it almost seems a shame that she doesn't nudge Mount off his podium more often.