Coloma is Geman duo Rob Taylor and Alex Paulick . Dovetail is their second album, following up 2003's Finery.

Coloma create songs that feature the lyrics, which tell stories. Their songs are as much poetry as tunemanship. Rob Taylor's vocals have a strong accent from his native England.

To make a blanket comparison to Coloma, I keep coming up with PreFab Sprout. Both bands place a high importance on the vocals, and each share more than a little in the sound department as well.

The albums opens up with The Price Of A Perfect Smile, which pits the vocal agains a rhythmic sonar blip. It is one of the more electronic based songs on the album.

Motorway Stray has quiet sections as well as moments of the most abrasive music on Dovetail. It is my favorite song on the album, though I can't figure emphasized lines like

You're more astray on the motorway,
than a moth to a flame

Happiness Is Deafening is my second favorite song on the record. Like Motorway Stray, it uses both quiet parts and louder parts effectively, with horns and a Motown-like drum beat.

The following comparisons are not meant to cheapen the work of Coloma, but to show that even though their sound is very modern, the sounds Coloma create share roots with major artists of the past as well as in electronic sounds of today.

• Talent For Leaving has vocals that may remind you of Roddy Frame in Aztec Camera.
• So Much In Common has soaring vocals like Ian McCulloch in later period Echo & The Bunnymen or Babybird.
• Rainfall And Sirens sounds like Robert Wyatt. It is a very quiet song with vocals, piano, and slide guitar.
• A-Roads And Sunsets is an instrumental that uses tom tom drums in the same way Joy Division did, placing them front and center of the track.
• To Love You reminds me of Scott Walker in both voice and mood.

Like the cover art of Dovetail, Coloma's sound is simple and sturdy. This music is outside of trends and fashoins, and has well constructed quality that makes it timeless for fans of clever wordplay in songs.