Effective world-building is a pillar of quality narrative fiction. Without the creation of a believable world for characters to exist in, stories completely fall apart. In music however, the idea of world-building is rarely, if ever, discussed. Thankfully, with Pearl & The Oysters around, this is about to change. 

The success of Coast 2 Coast, their latest album, is almost entirely down to the extremely visual world the psych-pop duo create. Rather than focus on a selection of disparate sounds and standout tracks, the album instead focuses entirely on the whole, more interested in creating an overall feeling than a few minutes of fleeting pop delight. 

From the first few notes of ‘Fireflies’, right on through to the robotic strut of ‘Joyful Science’ the listener is taken on a leisurely, sun soaked trip around the duo’s technicolour paradise, an island full of candy cane synthesisers and deceptively funky bass lines.

The duo stop off at a number of beauty spots along the way. We’re taken to the sparkling G-funk infused waters of ‘Pacific Ave’, a track that gives off more than a whiff of peak Metronomy with its toy machine groove. After this we stroll along the coastline before taking a quick detour through the haunting, shimmers of ‘Moon Canyon Park’. Once we’re done here, it’s time for the main event, the nightclub crescendo of ‘Paraiso’, a club sultry, dark number complete with disco lasers, melt in the sun keyboard sweeps and late summer energy. 

Where lesser groups would have fallen on their cutesy little faces with a project like this, Pearl & The Oysters have flourished. Each track of sugary psych delight adds new depths to their carefully crafted sound, proving just how valuable world-building can be to pop music.