A 'miild' setback

In 2009, Swedish indie electropop team Miike Snow released its eponymous debut album featuring standout track “Animal,” a landmark in hipster electronic, which was then remixed into oblivion, and we never became tired of it.

“Happy to You” seems to follow a similar formula. It’s a compilation that produces a few essential tracks, while the rest of the album could be looped as forgettable background music in Urban Outfitters.

Miike Snow’s musical identity in “Happy to You” is murky but cohesive percussion, and high-pitched vocals tie the album together — part OK Go, part Vampire Weekend, with ballsy club beats that would keep me going in a dark house party.
 
“Vase” and “Archipelago” are two uninhibited displays of joy and goofy dance moves that tap into the album’s title.

However, although Miike Snow is a showcase of remixability, the group seems to have lost sight of its goals in dance music. In all honesty, “Happy to You” just feels like it should be, well, louder.

As a whole, it doesn’t quite get where it wants to go until the final track, “Paddling Out,” a sexy pop-piano pièce de résistance with swelling energy and a shouted chorus.

Miike Snow, keep remixing, but your studio abilities missed the mark here.