Unsurprisingly for one of indie rock's most perennially unfashionable bands, Gomez' latest release landed in June with an especially big thud. Don't believe the haters: this is a deeply enjoyable pop album and among the best releases of the year. True, WOYM doesn't scale the heights of Gomez' (wildly underrated) mid-2000s output. Its flaws are easy to identify on first listen: unnecessary violins swamping the should-be-minimalist title track; a weak wuss-pop centerpiece in Tom Gray's "The Place and the People"; unfortunate mixing (and more misplaced strings) on "Our Goodbye" and the otherwise amazing "Equalize". But these are ultimately details. Like they did on "How We Operate", Gomez demonstrate a rare and essential understanding of the pleasure principle in popular music. "I Will Take You There", "Song in my Heart" and "That Wolf" in particular are just phenominal, big-hearted pop songs, all perfectly balanced sweetness and sketch, and bolstered by the most liberal use of three-way harmony since 1999's Liquid Skin. "Place and the People" aside, Gray provides his smart, heart-on-sleeve songwriting, and some excellent lead vocals, sorely missing from 2009's underwhelming A New Tide. As usual, ever-restless Ian Ball contributes the obvious singles, "Options" and "Just as Lost as You". I think Gomez have suffered in recent years from that fact that a lot of former fans won't forgive them for focussing on being a pop act rather than an indie jam band. This is a shame: good pop is hard to do, and Gomez do it very, very well.
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