Kid Astray

Sweden have The Royal Concept. Finland have Satellite Stories. Now Norway can enter the indie-pop thoroughfare with Oslo-based collective Kid Astray. Having been bolstered by national radio and loyal Scandinavian festival folk over the last year, now is probably the right time for this six-piece ensemble to whip off the tarpaulins and reveal their sound to a wider audience. When you first listen to "The Mess", you will undoubtedly notice the typically British elements and lively instrumental choruses. Once again our Nordic brethren take the nuances of Brit-pop and skittish indie thwacks, funnelling it into a tight package of boisterous musical revelry. How do they do it, seriously? Sounding like Two Door Cinema Club, The Wombats, Fenech-Soler and Bloc Party, (the list could go on but you get the idea) the Norwegians have made a single that is full of upbeat mood, fun jives and simplistic construction. Kid Astray are on to a winner if they play their cards right. Sumptuous azure pools of vocal wonderment meet bristling guitars and stomping beats to paint a scintillating indie veneer. "The Mess" is a brief musical soiree where British charisma meets Norwegian sophistication to produce this scorching pop number we cannot help but love over and over again.