Listening to Rachel Harrington sing tales from her second album, City of Refuge, is akin to being sat in front of the fire by your great aunt Bess and told the stories that made her a woman in a time when wagons rolled and the fiddle and the banjo were played without a hint of retro irony.
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Album: Black Moth Super Rainbow – Eating Us
Building up layers of synthesiser and creating an engagingly ethereal – by which I mean otherworldly but without being atmospheric like Sigur Rós – sound, Black Moth Super Rainbow are as unexpected as their name.
Album: Fanfarlo – Reservoir
London via Sweden’s Fanfarlo have been steadily bringing out a single a year for around three years now. Their debut album, Reservoir, has finally been unleashed and as expected, it has been more than worth the wait.
Album Review: Cats on Fire – Our Temperance Movement
In their second album Cats on Fire display their finely honed good taste with a selection of songlets which evoke the likes of The Smiths, Belle and Sebastian and Kings of Convenience. They’ve been criticised for this elsewhere, but it’s hard to question the combination of influences that are woven into the silken fabric of this album. Listening to it is like coming home to find that your beloved record collection’s had a bonkfest and produced a beautiful baby in your absence.
Album Review: Flare – Cut
Members from the likes of Beirut, The Arcade Fire and Belle & Sebastian have played a role in creating Flare’s (aka Flare Acoustic Arts League) diverse and brilliantly produced third album Cut. They lead on from the likes of The New Pornographers and The Hidden Cameras in showing that good pop music does not have to be formulaic. In fact, each of the songs on Cut manages to stand out as unique. This diversity accounts for a lot of its charm but equally accounts for its few flaws.
Mechanical Bride
They Say: Haunting folk, maybe with some electronic/rock/blues….make what you will.. We Say: Surrey-born, Brighton-based Lauren Dross is the driving force behind the beautiful, eerie pop music of Mechanical Bride. They have notably managed to turn Rihanna’s “Umbrella” into a…
Anika’s Playlist #1: Au Revoir Simone, JayMay, Wildbirds & Peacedrums and lots more
For your listening pleasure, Anika has put together a YouTube playlist.
The Leisure Society
Treetop Flyers
Adelaide’s Cape
Download their double A-side Curled/Harbour from Rawrip.