Following the rampant success of the Ibiza-tastic "Sing it Back" last summer it wouldn't have been a huge shock if the follow-up L.P. was called "Moloko present 20 Golden Dance Classics for Having S*x on a Beach To" and was peppered with a bunch of "Sing it Back"-alikes. To their credit they have, instead, retained their sense of quirky individuality and inventiveness, albeit not at the expense of a reasonable degree of radio-friendliness. The predominant feature here is, perhaps predictably, the distinctive vocal stylings of Roisin Murphy. Her "Beth Gibbons about to do something fairly deranged" voice carries the L.P. through its weaker points and lifts the good parts to an almost orgasmic state of greatness. The most entertaining singing on "Things to Make and Do", though, doesn't come courtesy of Roisin. There are no details with my promo copy, sadly, so I am forced to guess that the hilarious (and, hopefully, intentional) David Bowie impression on "Somebody Somewhere" comes courtesy of Mark Brydon. I shall doubtless end up with countless small children pointing at me in the street and laughing because it actually is David Bowie! "Things to Make and Do" has lots of very good songs on it. Some of them you might even be able to dance to if you were so inclined. But, with the obvious exception of "The Time is Now" which is purpose built for jiggling around your handbag to, none of the tracks herein are begging to be a huge summer smash. It's very much a collection of songs that belong together on an L.P. (with the exception of the single, which sounds oddly out of place in this setting). The fact that Moloko haven't tried to produce a record with half a dozen potential hit singles on it is hugely refreshing in the current climate of rabid marketing. That the end is result is so wonderfully diverse and entertaining should be a lesson to major record labels that trying to turn a band into a hit factory isn't always the best idea.

Mark Wainwright