Which “Co” do you like better: Coldplay or Copeland?  You’ll probably say the former, ‘cos you may not have heard of the latter, even though they’re not half-bad.  Though Copeland really sounds more like Keane (despite the fact that they’ve been around longer), the band still manages to pull a few interesting tricks in an otherwise generic follow-up to their acclaimed debut.  Lead singer Aaron Marsh doesn’t really stand very strong as a vocalist, but when he writes songs as the moving electro-ballad “I’m Safer in an Airplane”, it’s really hard to call foul.  The mystical and incredible opener “Where’s My Head” (which copies Brit-band South’s melodramatic template brilliantly) finds emotion in imagery as simple as wanting chocolate for a late-night snack.  “Love Affair”, the title track, and the wispy orchestrations of “When You Thought You’d Never Stand Out” are all fine, but the rest of the ballad-heavy album sounds like the fictional band from the Tom Hanks’ movie That Thing You Do!, except under heavy sedation.  Copeland remains a step ahead of their contemporaries, but only a step.  They’ve got a lot of growing still left to do—but as is, they’re sitting pretty good.

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