17. Free Your Mind / Cut Copy

The D Man is still running on the colorful fumes of Cut Copy's late October concert.  The Australian band's fourth studio album dropped a few days after the show, and it could not have come at a better time.  The album's sunny dance-pop can make any cold day better.  Ever the poptimist, frontman Dan Whitford said that "the record's concept of freedom is one that is universally positive and timeless, and whatever each person's version of that freedom is, it's a good thing to be reminding people or even just ourselves to be free."  Free Your Mind is a call to freedom, love, and the golden sun that shines on us all.  But really it is just an excuse to bob your head in the car, unashamed.

The album was recorded in the band's hometown of Melbourne and later mixed by Dave Fridmann (of Flaming Lips fame) in his upstate New York studio.  Listeners can hear Fridmann's bright cosmic gloss on the 14 tracks, and there is never a moment when the record doesn't sound impeccably produced.  Though the album is not as cutting edge as In Ghost Colours or Zonoscope, the individual tracks are seamlessly connected and demonstrate the band's easy touch with cosmopolitan and starry-eyed dance rock.  Nothing here is forced, and there is a relaxed summertime vibe that underscores numerous references to the sun.  "Shine brighter, shine on / shine brighter than the sun," Whitford implores on the title track.  On "We Are Explorers," he proclaims that "we're on a journey to the morning sun / together."  Whitford believes the unifying light of the solar system will save us, and on track after track he marches on with such mantras.  "Keep my hands pointing to the sky / until the daylight comes, into our minds to rescue us."

The elemental lyrics, of course, have never been the point with Cut Copy.  Big, open-hearted anthems that get the masses dancing, well, that is the point.  After experiencing their recent live performance, it is hard to imagine any current band doing it better.