Zoot Woman is the rather tantalising collaboration of electronic journeyman, Stuart Price with UK brothers Adam and Johnny Blake. The group have been around, in one form or other, for more than a decade, squeezing in this electro-pop project amongst various other musical pursuits. Stuart Price is of course known under many other names – Les Rhythmes Digital, The Thin White Duke, Jacques Les Cont – and as the uber producer of superstars like Madonna and The Killers. So it with some serious musical pedigree that they release their third studio album, Things Are What They Used to Be.

With a quiet focus on the songwriting, little pop droplets sparkle from the speakers with snappy melodies, bustling rhythms and plenty of variation. There are some gems scattered throughout this album, in particular some of the pop nuggets that the Zoot boys punch out with effortless grace. Just a Friend of Mine is three minutes of pleasure, like sucking back a slushee on a summer’s day. Memory rockets along with flirtatious intent while Lust Forever adds enough rock to get your right foot tapping incessantly.

There are also some haunting moments – Blue Sea is a restrained exploration of piano and vocals that allows Johnny’s voice to express their natural melancholy, as does the evocative ballad Lonely By Your Side. Interestingly, this track was actually released almost three years ago by Azzido Da Bass. It seems that Zoot have simply reworked some of Johnny’s old vocals (thankfully the original vocals are great and this version captures the haunting refrain beautifully) into a track they can claim as their own.

In fact, there are no real flat spots on this album. However, what the Zoot Woman project seems to suffer from is a lack of vocal variation from their frontman; it’s all a little “one-note”. As you’d expect, the sound here is beautifully produced, polished and refined and therein perhaps lies the problem. While there is interesting songwriting aplenty and clever use of sound, light and shade, somehow the whole thing seems bizarrely indistinct. After numerous listens it’s all a bit teflon; nothing sticks. Still, if you’re after a solid collection of electro chunks to fill your ears, this album will do the job nicely.