The Electric Soft Parade - No Need to be Down-Hearted

So perhaps there’s no need to be down-hearted, but listening to the Electric Soft Parade’s latest won’t leave you frothing in vivacious cheerfulness either. Rather, the album has that morning after feel, the start of a fresh day as it knocks its boots clean of some somber difficulty that persisted in clinging to your step. No Need to be Downhearted is full of nods to things beginning and ending, in so many words. “Misunderstanding,” projected to be the group’s next single, is a decent example of this (and a good tune as well): “The day is done, the story’s over / Let’s forget about the things I told you.” Hopeful, but maybe not quite happy, Electric Soft Parade have delivered. [www.electricsoftparade.com]