There's a fine line between sappiness and sheer brilliance in the Adult-Contemporary Pop genre and if anyone ever needed a template on how to achieve the latter in this category they should look no further than The Clientele's new record God Save The Clientele. This UK four-piece have been honing their skills since 2000's singles collection Suburban Light and they just keep getting better with every release.

Taking cues from the likes of everyone from "Massachusetts" era Bee Gees and The Go-Betweens to more contemporary artists such as mellower Yo La Tengo and Lambchop, The Clientele know how to produce sweet nectar for the ears. Seems fitting to mention Lambchop because The Clientele holed up in Nashville with Lambchop's Mark Nevers for the entire proceedings of God Save. Not only that, but they also brought in Autumn Defense/Wilco cohort Pat Sansone to help with the making of The Clientele's new record more Americana in parts and it's certainly paid off.

The pedal steel, piano and string arrangements strewn about here are to die for and I don't know if they would have had the same effect without their Nashville influence. Standouts such as "From Brighton Beach to Santa Monica" make you wish that Autumn truly was around the corner instead of the blistering summer we know to expect. "Bookshop Casanova" and "The Garden at Night" also prove that The Clientele can pick up the pace and rock (be it lightly) when it suits them. Groups like Peter Bjorn & John (who are also good) may be getting all the buzz right now for bringing Adult-Contemporary Pop back to the masses but don't sleep on The Clientele, they are the real deal and will go down as one of the best record makers of 2007. God Save The Clientele indeed.