On the first listen ‘Library’ is a strange track to get your head round. It’s happy-go-lucky pop but has an odd, woozy quality to it, as dreamy, spaced-out vocals are accompanied by a jaunty harpsichord and lots of weird squelching noises.
Seeland features two ex-members of the bands Plone and Broadcast, who were apparently the leading lights of Birmingham’s ‘Retro Futurist Electronic Scene’. Nope, I’ve never heard of it either, but apparently their influences include Space Age Pop, The BBC Radiophonic Workshop and the producer Joe Meek, a pioneer of early electronic sounds.
Despite these esoteric influences, ‘Library’ is actually kinda catchy. It’s the kind of music that makes you yearn for a world where people fly about on hoverboards and robots do the housework for you.
The B-Side ‘Call The Incredible’ is similarly psychedelic, a space-age folk song meandering along pleasantly at its own drugged-up pace. A great deal of time and effort has gone into the production and if you’re in a blissed-out mood it goes down pretty well.