7/10

Since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2019, Swedish trio ViVii have found themselves growing in popularity and praise. While their first offering arrived with little fanfare around it, the group's profile has grown astronomically in the following years, thanks to many discovering them organically in hindsight. And while they didn't give much of a gap between their releases, returning just over a year afterwards with their comeback single 'Summer Of 99', they look to build even further on their formative sound as they deliver their hotly-tipped sophomore effort 'Mondays', a record that shows enormous promise throughout.

Prior to the release of 'Mondays', ViVii were hard on the promotional run, dropping five of the full-length's ten tracks before it had even come out. And while the drip-feeding of new cuts over the last nine months certainly whet our appetites for this LP, only hearing them all together can you fully appreciate the scale that they have conjured on here. While normally ones for bright and enticing dream-pop ditties, this new collection has a more sprawling aesthetic to it, almost as if they are just letting the music carry them off and creating this rich and vivid soundscape in the process.

In all, 'Mondays' has a sound that almost feels like what if Fleetwood Mac were formed in the last decade instead of the 1970s. The drive and passion for aural textures remains intact, but has this incredibly contemporary direction to it, giving it a wonderfully warm and inviting appeal throughout.