Track Review: The Irrepressibles – “Two Men In Love”

[Of Naked Design Recordings; 2013]

“Chamber pop” has always struck me as an oddly derisive genre name, one I imagine being delivered with a sneer and a roll of the eyes in the direction of some snooty aristocrats (a very “let them eat cake” kind of deal). But when its jazzy, orchestral arrangements are fused so seamlessly with the rich idiosyncrasies of synthpop, I’m willing to let it slide; and when it’s all topped off by the angelic vocals of one Jamie McDermott, leader of the London ten-piece collective known as The Irrepressibles, with both the aching vibratto and lyrical focus of Antony Hegarty, you know you’ve got something special on your hands. “Two Men In Love” slowly and gracefully builds from a sparse atmosphere toward a romantic catharsis that would make Mike Hadreas proud. Check out the video, consisting of fan-supplied “awwwww”-worthy footage, below. The track is from Nude, out now on Of Naked Design Recordings.