Architecture In Helsinki

Handclap-happy Australian band Architecture In Helsinki embraced some big changes after releasing its 2005 standout, In Case We Die, including the departure of two members, the relocation of leader Cameron Bird from Melbourne to Brooklyn, and the release of a remix disc. Those three events influenced 2007’s Places Like This—and not in a good way. The band’s fourth LP, Moment Bends, was released earlier this year and doesn’t return to the lush, symphonic take on indie-dance at which In Case excelled. The record goes too far toward buffing out the quirks of its predecessor, mistaking studio compression and unexciting genre exercises for more focused songwriting. In the end, it plays like Places Like This without a personality or sense of adventure.

Updated 11/09/2011