5/10

When The Naked And Famous released their 2010 debut album 'Passive Me, Aggressive You', it instantly began to ride the wave of electro-inspired pop music circling the globe at the time. With a mixture of hard percussion, soft vocals and memorable hooks, the record set the band on the road to international success. Their 2013 follow-up 'In Rolling Waves' matched the feel of their first full-length but failed to continue the band's legacy. So now the New Zealand native return once again to deliver another album that is looking to rekindle that same impact they initially had.

But while 'Simple Forms' gets off to an impressive start with opener and lead single 'Higher', the rest of the album has trouble in maintaining that initial power. The album occasionally confuses forward-thinking electro-pop with cheesy 90s trance anthems, giving it a real mixed feel that makes it hard to like the record as a whole. It almost feels like they've lost the focus they had on their debut album and have resorted to working with anything just to see what sticks.

It isn't a complete fall from grace but it certainly ticks a few boxes of a band that has lost their creative edge. The result is this bundle of unfinished ideas and directions that never seem to find their footing. Maybe its time to go back to the drawing board for these guys.