The quartet that make up AOU are a trans-European bunch, with members from three of the continent's biggest cities, London, Paris and Oslo. With musical lines being so blurred it's difficult to dissect the influences of the music they make to specific locations, but this free EP does mix krautrock, dreampop, indie and electronica, all of which have some excellent representatives in each of those countries, but really location is nothing but an interesting fact; the language of music is pretty universal (although they choose to sing in English). Following an intro they set out their vision of sound in 'All Of Us', a wonderful song which draws on post-punk as well as the genres mentioned above. It's insistent, it's dreamy and when listened to properly it's actually quite an intricate piece.
With its prominent bassline, 'This Town' experiments a little more, while still having a slightly industrial feel, albeit one with more warmth than may be expected from its comparatively skeletal construction; there's more room to breathe here, yet the attention to detail is still high. That krautish feel and analogue electronic sound is incorporated more into 'The Frisco Sun', a tune that steadily and methodically propels itself along before lifting the mood to another level with some drifting atmospherics later on. It's post-punk bass again on 'L'Age d'Or' and not for the first time you think of Peter Hook. Overall the song does have the same pull from that era that runs through the whole EP, yet it somehow feels fresher, perhaps due to the different production style. Either way, it's arguably the best song here and blossoms into something quite impressive. Drawing to a close with 'Testament', perhaps the most experimental tune on the EP, you're left thinking that if this is a band's introduction to the world then they're definitely a name to make a note of.
Stream or download the EP in full from AOU's website
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