hough consisting of two Americans and an Indonesian, Semifinalists are based in London, where they met at film school. This all fits when you hear their music: an eclectic mix that, when played live, is synchronised with colourful, hyperactive animation. UK audiences have long lapped up this kind of stargazing, symphonic Americana (i.e. Deserter’s Songs, The Soft Bulletin) that makes up much of their self-titled debut more readily than those across the Atlantic.

You don’t really have to search hard for these influences: singer/producer/drummer Chris Steele-Nicholson’s fragile falsetto and the wobbly lo-fi keyboard melodies throughout could fit comfortably on a Grandaddy or Flaming Lips album or two. That the group uses such simple, small sounding elements to create music that addresses the personal and emotional on the grandest of scales only further cements the comparison. First single “Show the Way” begins thoroughly downbeat (“I can’t be angry, only sad”) but ends with a chant of “You’re gonna light the stars!” that’s so ridiculously euphoric it’s almost hard not to get caught up in the positivity. It also demonstrates the contributions of the two other band members which are crucial to the best moments on the album: Adriana Alba (keyboards/vocals) adds dreamily gorgeous backing vocals and Ferry Gouw (guitars/vocals) separates the two halves of the track with a huge fuzzy glam riff, as unexpected as it is exciting. As well as guitar heroics, Gouw also possesses an intense, manic yelp used to fantastic effect on opener “The Origin Song” and current single “You Said,” both early highlights where disparate voices and ideas are brought to together into exhilarating unison.

But at barely more than half-an-hour long, Semifinalists’ twelve tracks too often sound like unfinished sketches. Skewed, intriguing songs like Alba’s bouncy “I Saw You In The Hall” and Gouw’s pleading “Upstream” end just as they begin to take shape. Aside from “A Short Acoustic Song,” which contrary to its name sees masses of swelling synth noises thrown at a delicate underlying song to fine dramatic effect, the group never again reaches the heights that begin the album—leaving Semifinalists a fascinating and sometimes brilliant curio that falls down as a record, but suggests great promise.