Music for hairproducts

When I stumbled across the electronic duo of Arthur and Martha the first thing I noticed was their EP titled 'Music for Hairproducts'. Right then, based on the name alone, I knew I had found something special and unique. I then took notice of the cover art for the EP : it features the duo (I think) in outfits that would have proudly graced the cover of any early '70s fashion magazine – eat your hearts out Greg and Marica Brady! I was instantly thrown into a nostalgic mood with visions of my mother's old Butterick pattern books and Aqua-net hair spray flashing before my eyes. I then thought of the Greg and Marica paper dolls my sister and I used to play with and a smile graced my face.

I turned the music on and my ears were instantly greeted with the familiar, glorious sounds of analog blips, saws, pads and classic drum machine beats. What I heard took me back to the days of early OMD, but with a modern-let's-style-some-hair twist. 'I can't come out tonight, I've got to get this color right' is the lyric that stands out the most to me in this track – it amuses me greatly, but I think it's also a very trenchant observation on unrealistic Western beauty standards and social pressures to have perfect bodies.

As a side note, I highly recommend the book 'Bodies' by Susie Orbach – it's a fantastic look into beauty conventions and how Western beauty standards have created a booming plastic surgery industry.

But back to Arthur and Martha: their debut album will be called 'Navigation'. I can only assume this is a nod to the classic OMD albums, Dazzle Ships and Architecture and Morality (which might explain why their music reminds me of OMD). Arthur and Martha are Adam Cresswell and Alice Hubley. Navigation will be released on 6 July in the UK – I'm not sure if this is also a global release date.

http://www.myspace.com/arthurandmartha