Coming in at 9 minutes 16 seconds the full version of Electric Eye actually starts off sounding nothing like the 4 minute preview that thirty hard-core fans were privileged to receive early. The easiest way to describe the track is as a combination of three tracks welded together, almost illogically so. It begins very placid with Jonas’s vocal sounding deeper than usual but grows into an almost danceable track with a solid beat overlaid with jingly guitars. The vocal and lyrics (“Lost without your antlers, crawling”) sound very Mew-like; in fact the first part of the Electric Eye threesome could almost be a Miike Snow remix of an old Mew b-side.

This section fades out with almost a full minute of aah-aah-aaahhhs and at 3.13 fades up again into a whole other song. This starts the Electric Eye proper, as heard in the preview.  Mellow vocals over thumping drums, a dirty guitar riff and samples of the 80’s-like synths and robotic voice from a previous Apparatjik songlet, thebirthofapparatjik.

When the vocal appears again at 4 minutes in, it’s obviously not Jonas this time; the video would seem to suggest a blend of Guy and Magne’s vocals, or perhaps all four member’s voices. Jonas appears again later with a brief solo verse.

The lyrics become less abstract, with a more conventional sound ("Through all the static, I hear you calling"). The track again fades down at 7:30 into an over-long outro complete with a weird space-age voice-over reminiscent of E.T. and a soothing, almost hypnotic, choral repetition.

The sandwiching of the different parts together into one track is bizarre to say the least, but perhaps that’s the point. For an orthodox band this would be two different tracks, but Apparatjik are far from orthodox. They choose to staple together two or three pieces of music in a seemingly random manner and don’t even bother to pretend that it is anything other than a seamless transition.  As a genre, you’re looking at all the prog-rock or dream-pop labels ever thrown at Mew clashing full-force with all the “mainstream” insults ever planted on Coldplay and a-ha.

Overall, it’s an interesting and enjoyable track and as a taste of the forthcoming album, it bodes well. When Coldplay released Violet Hill as a free download, it was decent enough, but turned out to be the weakest track on the album, so hopefully the Apparatjiks are keeping the real highlights of their long-player in the bag for now. The as-yet-untitled album is rumoured to be released 1st February 2010.

Electric Eye is available as a free download, direct from the manufacturers.

Some of our favourite quotes from various official reviews include:

"The song sounds like 1985's version of the future" - Pitchfork

"It's an intriguing taste of a project that could turn out to be the best thing ever or head down a route of impenetrable self-indulgence" - I Eat Music

"It’s like Radiohead took a bath in disco acidwash" - MTV Iggy

"...while it may not be the most obvious sampler song with its eclectically changing nine-minute marathon nature, it definitely perks up the interest" - Indie Paws

"Could sound sublime, could sound like a cat dancing in a sack of sandpaper and bricks" - Drowned in Sound