Le Superhomard & Maxwell Farrington ★★★★ Once TALITRES. CD/DL/LP

Gallic pop-psych voyager conspires with Aussie crooner.

Despite Cass Elliot’s definitive version, John Barry and Hal David’s The Good Times Are Coming was always ripe for another take. Pleasing, then, when Christophe Vaillant (aka Le SuperHomard) and Maxwell Farrington made it the first fruit of a spontaneous collaboration in thrall to classic ’60s crooners and the breezy, meticulous arrangements upon which they soared. Vaillant adjusts his palette accordingly, dialling down his customary electronic flourishes, and dialling up low-twanging guitars, clever modulations, light-orchestral strings and enough Burt Bacharach, Lee Hazlewood and Jimmy Webb-inspired nous to ensure that, were this duo to gatecrash The Andy Williams Show circa 1967, they’d fit right in. The twist, perhaps, is Farrington’s odd and unique lyrical voice, full of arresting couplets on We, Us The Pharaohs, Oysters, and North Pole, wherein the world-weary protagonist fears being eaten by a polar bear. James McNair