A star of sorts in his native Canada, Dan Mangan has yet to make the same impact in Britain, his previous albums lacking a real identity. His fourth set, though, and his first with a full band, indicates that Mangan has finally found his niche as a wonderfully off-kilter singer-songwriter. Harmonious one minute, turbulent the next, Club Meds is an album rich in sounds and moods. Vessel evokes a Peter Gabriel/Grizzly Bear love-in, while New Skies, which finds Mangan at his most experimental, is a ballad reimagined by a mariachi band.
