Following from my review of my 'Tips for 2011', the next five posts are going to be my '15 Tips for 2012' listed alphabetically. As with last years posts, my tips aren't necessarily fifteen acts I'm tipping for stardom (though a few perhaps will hit the mainstream) but are fifteen of (I could have picked more) the new acts (my only criteria to be in this list is that the artist cannot have released an LP previously) that I believe will offer some of the best releases of the forthcoming year, without further rambling, straight on to part one;
Just Music That I Like's Tips for 2012 - Part One.
Battlekat, the band formerly known as Just A Number 05272011 released one of the best EP's of 2011, though their '05272011–10242011' went mainly unnoticed (especially considering the incredible buzz their initial tracks "The Pain" / "He Didn't Want A Love Song" created in the blogging world), nevertheless, the Danish four-piece delivered a fantastic six track extended play that combined the powerful, hypnotic beats of The Knife with a mainstream crossover potential of Robyn.
The tracks in their arsenal are already outstanding, the confident "All The Useless Things" sees crunching electro beats, rushing percussion and icy cool synths combine with vocalist Matilde's wonderfully distinctive high-pitched vocals in faultless manner. The highly charged "Business" continues with their twisted, rapid beats was could easily be remixed (and have) to make either a techno club anthem or dance-floor filler while "Mother Nature" is an altogether edgier affair, a darker ambience, abrasive and metallic with electronic glitches, warped distorted vocals and pulsating beats.
I caught one of their London shows at Madame Jo Jo's and for a band that had were less than six months old it was an incredible performance, polished, confident and aggressive. Battlekat can do brooding, they can do infectiously catchy and they can do warped mysticism all with apparent ease. I'm looking forward to their return to London and, of course, new material (hopefully in 2012).
You know when you hear two or three songs from a band and think "wow, this is just fantastic" and then you realise that those songs are the very first songs released by a band that haven't even played live, so you rush to see their second ever (I couldn't make the first) live show and you leave even more impressed and are itching to hear more (coincidently that show was the same bill as the previous tip, Battlekat), well that's what happened with Carousels (Lucy Wilson and Nick Benton), I'm still itching to hear more now.
What we have (so fare) are three stunning tracks, I'm still pretty happy with what I wrote back in July so here it is again; ""Here to Me" is arguably my favourite, buzzing chain-saw guitar riffs, layers of feedback and a gorgeous flowing melody, there is even room for some hand-claps, what isn't there to like?!. "Sleep" is a stomping, droney shoegaze wonder that sounds like it was made in the 90's, walls of energetic guitar noise, hard-hitting drum-loops and Lucy's soft butter wouldn't melt vocals. Fantastic".
Nothing official for me to point you in the way to buy yet, just fall in love with their music like I have and hope that 2012 brings more, much more.
Is seeing someone perform for fifteen minutes long enough time to categorically say that they are 100% deserving of a place in a 'tips for 2012' thread? I think so, I'd previous featured Cold Specks back in July and had this to say...
"One listen and it's easy to see why the hyperbole is in overdrive, her voice is extraordinary. Her soulful, smoky purr will hit you like a freight train and "Holland" uses its strength and beauty perfectly. A dark, gospel track, it starts melancholic and graceful as it develops around her voice whilst delicate guitar plucks, sweeping strings and a repetitive drum beat build up to reach an empowering finale. Haunting, spiritual, beautiful"
...Yet until she blew me away with a short (stripped back) set supporting Josh T. Pearson at Barbican Hall a week or so back I hadn't completely decided on this post, five minutes into the set I had. The rest of the crowd sensed it too, for a support act there was complete silence and an overwhelming applause at the end of the set, a crowd that perhaps hadn't heard of Cold Specks (the moniker of Al Spx) left knowing it alright.
Trophy hunters should seek out her debut 7” ‘Holland’ now, limited to just 250 copies and available here. Check out the video for one of the tracks she played at the Barbican “Lay Me Down", her incredible voice, the intimate nature of it all, simply stunning. Watch this space.
Tomorrow sees the start of my tips for 2012, I came up with a list of quite a few acts and had to pick fifteen from it, so there were a few sacrifices, one of them was the truly stunning Rae Morris, I'm surprised it was as long ago as June when I last talked about her, it means two of these three videos are a little old now but give more than enough insight to the talent of this incredible young new artist.
There aren't many words that can properly describe the solo piano versions of "Day One" and "Wait a While" you can find below, they are absolutely gorgeous, Rae's raw, powerful voice cascades over her majestic key strokes, self-penned songs that are set to turn audiences to stunned silence up and down the country.
Rae has two London shows planned for the new year, firstly one I've already got a ticket to as it features three artists that certainly feature in the 'ones to watch in 2012' category and each have already been featured here (Lianne La Havas and The Staves), tickets for that are available here (thought I doubt they will be for too long) and Rae also headlines the wonderful Slaughtered Lamb on 7th March - tickets
For those curious, the fifteen other albums that made my initial 40 album shortlist are below:
Tennis - Cape Dory
Las Kellies - Las Kellies
Unison - Unison
Sister Crayon - Bellow
Tasseomancy - Ulalume
Help Stamp Out Loneliness - S/T
SPC ECO - You Tell Me
Summer Camp - Welcome to Condale
Amatorski - TBC
Mushy - Faded Heart
Pink Playground - Destination Ecstasy
Rayographs - Rayographs
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong
PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
Clytem Scanning - Armada
and a reminder of my top 25 if you can't be bothered to trail through my rather wordy reviews:
25. Braids - Native Speaker
24. Birds of Passage - Without The World
23. Seapony - Go With Me
22. Widowspeak - Widowspeak
21. The Chapman Family - Burn Your Town
20. She Keeps Bees - Saturn Returns
19. Be Forest - Cold
18. Emmy The Great - Virtue
17. Gazelle Twin - The Entire City
16. Blouse - Blouse
15. Spotlight Kid - Disaster Tourist
14. Planningtorock - The Breaks
13. I Break Horses - I Break Horses
12. St Vincent - Strange Mercy
11. Chelsea Wolfe - The Grime and The Glow / Apokalypsis
10. Esben and the Witch - Violet Cries
9.Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes
8. Zola Jesus - Conatus
7. Still Corners - Creatures of an Hour
6. Veronica Falls - Veronica Falls
5. Austra - Feel It Break
4. EMA - Past Life Martyred Saints
3. Lanterns on the Lake - Gracious Tide, Take Me Home
2. Josh T. Pearson - Last of the Country Gentlemen
1. The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
From my introduction to Austra, the dark, brooding beat driven "Beat and the Pulse" to the more pop-friendly hooks of the stylised "Lose It", 'Feel it Break' the brain child of Katie Stelmanis is majestic. First single "Beat & The Pulse" is certainly amongst the best tracks of the year, dominated by a dramatic, pulsating dance-floor energy that carries an undoubtedly sexy momentum throughout (thoughts of the Tasseomancy twins dancing in the live set don't help that!) it's probably the star of the show and it's no coincidence it was the first release from the record, it pulls you in like very few tracks I've heard this year.
Much of the album is much more shiny and light, than dark and Gothic, yes there are incredible empowered vocals which Katie's delivers pitch perfect and equally big, icy synths but 'Feel it Break' is full of potential pop hits too, rather than foreboding and menacing like an Esben and the Witch or Zola Jesus, Austra have made their enormous beats clean, polished and stylish, never more so than on "Lose it" and oblique sexual references on the glistening "The Future".
Other highlights are the enchanted melodies of "Spellwork", album opener "Darken Her Horse" which combines twinkling keys with an industrial rhythm and then "The Beast" which abandons the dance-oriented electronics in favour of a piano ballad which fully utilises Katie's powerful, operatically trained voice, the departure is starting and beautiful. In summation, it's an essential album.
Simply put EMA's first solo record, the 90's influenced noise-grunge 'Past Life Martyred Saints' is a absolute knock-out. From the outset, the frankly insane one / two combination of "The Grey Ship" and "California" you know you are in for something special, raw and emotional throughout, Erika portrays a tough yet equally brittle persona through scuzzed-up guitars, intense vocal cries and compelling atmosphere, absolutely everything is laid on the line over the course of it's nine tracks...
The first half of the seven minute wonder "The Grey Ship" is like sailing in a melancholic and woozy ocean, tranquil and calm, but then it suddenly crashes into a thunderstorm with the introduction of a throbbing bass-line, washes of droning feedback, over-amped guitar, crazed violin and thumping drums. "California" is beautifully stark, through grinding, droning walls of feedback, the opening line of "Fuck California, you made me boring" sums up Erika's defiance in one line and it's repeated refrain "I’m just 22 / I don’t mind dying" is almost triumphant.
"Butterfly Knife" is an unrelenting four minutes of pure dissonance, sharp guitar shredding that is frenetic and fuzzed to fuck while the brash "Milkman" uses a deep industrial drum beat to head towards its noise harbouring conclusion.
Though it's Marked" that is probably my favourite track on the album, raw and bruised with its repetitive cries of "I wish that every time he touched me left a mark", Erika portraying a vulnerable, intimate side amongst the powerful, confident cries and dirty instrumentation. In a year of stunning debut records, EMA's is easily one of the best.
Another band I discovered mid way through 2010 and who've spent 18 months firmly in the category of 'favourite bands' are Lanterns on the Lake, signed up by the impeccable Bella Union at the turn of the year the sextet spend the first six months playing a few shows (included the spine-tingling shows I caught at The Great Escape and finalising their album 'Gracious Tide, Take Me Home' which was released in September
The album fulfilled every ounce of my incredible expectation, awash with natural beauty and elegance, the purposely restrained melancholia that shrouds the eleven tracks are the very definition of sensual, dreamy bliss. The soft, delicate whisper of Hazel's voice is enough to make you fall in love alone.
It's difficult to pick highlights, the album flows so beautifully it's best to sit and listen on one luscious sitting, windswept instrumentation sweeps and swoons while heartbroken melodies tug at your heart strings, the updated version of "I Love You, Sleepyhead" the perfection summation, genuinely gorgeous. Equally sumptuous is "If I've Been Unkind", a rich tapestry of intense beauty and arrangements from the heavens.
Another track revisited from the early EP's "A Kingdom" is fantastic, sweeping strings and galloping beat, Hazel's voice combines perfectly with Adam's while the graceful elegance of "Keep on Trying" provides more unrivalled emotional joy. Cinematic soundscapes delivered with such heart-tugging grace, it's simply to die for.
Josh T. Pearson, an absolute guarantee for my gig of the year (read my review of the first time I saw him and was left completely speechless here), ' Last of the Country Gentlemen', his first solo record and first release since an album with his then band Lift to Experience in 2001 is extraordinary. Everything about it is so compellingly heartbreaking, beautiful, transfixing that it's impossible to do it just in a brief review of about 200 words from a writer with zero ability, I feel pretty embarrassed just trying.
The flawless "Sweetheart I Ain't Your Christ" is a dark, morose and lengthy track of stark, honest Americana / Country, lyrical, melancholic, and incredibly intelligent, like the entire album is deeply intimate and bears the scars of Josh's failed relationship. It's a hard ride for some, I've read countless one star reviews, personally I think this is possibly the most moving album I've ever heard. His guitar playing varying from quite shimmering to raucous strumming in an instant, he's quite the exceptional player too as anyone who has seen him live with testify.
"Woman, When I've Raised Hell" follows in similar fashion, equally heart-wrenching and haunting beauty, weaving a long road of candid and confessional narrative and self-pity "Honestly, why can’t you just let it be / And let me quietly drink myself to sleep". The most stunning most though is on the devastating centrepiece "Honeymoon's Great! Wish You Were Her", the longest track in an album of lengthy numbers, at thirteen minutes it's raw, emotional and regretful "I’m in love with another woman, please don’t tell the wife / I cannot seem to stop it and it’s fuckin’ up my fucked up life" (in fact just read the whole lyrics here), a poetic lament to unrequited love and being stuck between two women. I'll repeat myself, an album of such heartbreaking fragility and beauty that I can't say any more than just listen to it.
If you've been here before then this is amongst the most obvious (but also the most deserving) top spot I'll ever give, I'm some what of a fan-boy when it comes to The Joy Formidable and their debut full length 'The Big Roar' is hands down my album of 2011, the band have defined by musical tastes of the past eighteen months plus and continue to do so, I cannot wait to see them again next year (and again and again) and am more excited than a kid in a sweet shop about the follow up due next year.
I'm not going to review this album, I've written about the band countless times already (including a lengthy prose just last week; read through the label here if you'd like to see that and do make sure you've at least listened to the record, it will blow you away.
Esben and the Witch's debut album 'Violet Cries' (which came out way back in January via Matador) delivered ten tracks that combined to create a rich tapestry of dense and mystical fairytales delivered in a dramatic, uncompromising and bold manner. Equal parts stark beauty and deathly misery encompassed in an unsettling, atmospheric gloom and ethereal soundscapes.
Opening track "Argyria" hammers home the dark, intimidating mood, after an unnerving, slow building start it startles you with powerful drums and intense droning guitars wash over subtle glitches while gothic enchantress Rachel Davies' vocal incantations could bring blood to the boil. It's overwhelmingly bewitching, and utterly sublime.
"Marching Song" see Rachel's wailing cries play over hammering kettle drum, harsh guitars and shimmering, rich electronics building to a cacophony of unrivalled noise, the thumping basslines and eeriness reaches new heights on the outstanding "Chorea", where the repeated cries of "dance themselves to death" bring harrowing, plague-like epidemic comparisons to mind.
Though the paranoia of "Eumendies" is arguably even better, dream-like hallucinogenics combine with europhic sonic architecture to weave the biggest spell of all. before the desolation of "Swans" brings the album to a superb and naturally chilly ending, a truly stunning album from Brighton's finest act.
The winner for most aptly titled album of the year is hands down Lykke Li, her second album 'Wounded Rhymes' is exactly that, an almost voyeuristic look into Lykke's personal account of broken relationships. Wrapped around her intimate, vulnerable lyrics are amongst the most beautiful songs I've hard this year combining sumptuous melodies, Lykke's gorgeous voice and pounding, tribal percussion, lots of percussion. Part Spector girl group, part Springfield soul and part Swedish fire.
On the starkly arranged "I Know Places" and "Sadness is a Blessing" we hear a heartbroken Lykke sing with sincere emotional tenderness of a victim of unrequited love, then the polar opposite on "Get Some" where she is at her most provocative and attention-seeking, danceable, rhythmic and with its lyrics "like a shotgun needs an outcome / I’m your prostitute, you’re gonna get some", easily the most aggressive track where the victim becomes a cock-sure tease.
"Silent My Song" drips with gorgeous harmonies and the voyeuristic themed "I Follow Rivers" use of tinpot drumming, hand-clapping and exotic flavours provides a further stand-out amongst an album of them, the pop album of the year? If you call this pop (the darkness of her lyrics and the emotions portrayed throughout lead me to think this has far too much emotional depth and beauty to appeal to your typical pop fan / x factor junkie) then unquestionably.
The prolific Zola Jesus returns after last years incredible 'Stridulum' (II in the UK) with her latest offering 'Conatus', an incredibly polished offering that certainly sees ZJ expand upon her Gothic arsenal of electronic darkness. Powered by her unmistakable voice, Nika Roza Danilova is most definitely a creature of the night.
It's her operatically trained voice, powerful drums and propulsive industrial synths that drive the album forward, album preview track "Vessel" is the early stand-out, harsh metallic beats and Nika's colossal voice create an immediate, menacing atmosphere that's dramatic and chilly. "Seekir" is an upbeat, almost dance orientated track, electronic glitches and a pulsing synthetic beat, equally foreboding is "Avalanche", delightfully bleak, brooding and monstrous.
Though their are also some simply beautiful moments, the eerie "Hikkomori" fizzes away with more drama than in an episode of The Sopranos, yet the best of all is saved for the second side of the album, where Nika lets in more than a touch of lightness, the delightfully named "Lick The Palm Of The Burning Handshake" is melodramatic and wonderful. The intimacy of "Skin", a stark piano led ballad will send shivers down your bones and "Collapse" with its foreboding synth fizz, slow building drums and the quivering vocals close the album with two tracks of transcending, majestic beauty.
'Conatus' certainly sees Zola Jesus move away from her industrial lo-fi beginnings into epic scale dramatic pop territory, it's one that I think is her home. It's equal parts incredible and absurd to think that she's still just 22.
Still Corners released their spellbinding debut 'Creatures of an Hour" via US label Sub Pop back in October, masterminded by Greg Hughes 'Creatures of an Hour' is exceptionally crafted from the outset, where film-noir aesthetics transport you through an expansive journey of kaleidoscope soundscapes that are undeniably alluring and gorgeous.
The singles "Cuckoo" and "Endless Summer" return and are as immaculate as ever, a graceful, melancholic mist wrapped around shimmering guitars flourishes, hollow drums and twinkling keys create beautiful dream-like warmth which is rounded off by the ethereal sweetness that is Tessa's angelic vocal. On the more energetic "Into The Trees" glistening 60's psychedelia, precise drum beats and shining guitars offer the perfect example of the wistful, romantic atmosphere so sumptuously crafted.
"I Wrote in Blood" adds an otherworldly, dark undercurrent (though with its title it's not that much of an undercurrent) amongst its eerie organ swirls and woozy, washes of reverb, haunting guitar and ghostly whispers that are equally noticeable on "Circulars". Mysterious synth perfectly complements slow, chiming guitars and trembling drums on "The Twilight Hour" and closing track "Submarine" are equal highlights in this quite simply, stunning debut.
Veronica Falls were snapped up by Bella Union for the long-awaited release of their debut LP which came out in mid October, the London / Glasgow quartet have been favourites of this blog since early last year and the release of their signature tune 'Found Love in a Graveyard', which now, some eighteen months later hasn't lost any of its immediate charm and finds itself as the lead track on the bands self-titled debut album. Any song that can sing about falling in love with a ghost in a graveyard yet sound as irresistibly catchy as a Cliff Richard Christmas song (joke!) is a winner in my book.
The outstanding and hopeful closure "Come on Over" is certainly one of the highlights of the album and contains just about everything I love about Veronica Falls, urgent pacing where cleverly constructed male/female vocal harmonies deliciously combine whilst infectious, head-nodding melodies which embed themselves around your brain. While eqaully catchy, yet somewhat more dark and brooding is the anti-feel good "Bad Feeling", a song from the same morbid scrapbook as Graveyard as well as another of the early singles, the formidable “Beachy Head” (a song about a suicide hot-spot) and new track “Misery” (a song about being generally miserable).
It’s not all high energy ramshackle guitars and self-wallowing lyrical matter, the slower paced “Veronica Falls” is a genuine highlight where Roxanne’s usual deadpan delivery changes to a soft, beautiful lullaby. In summary, this joyous album offer a melodic pop album with more energy than you can shake a stick at that revels in misery yet somehow manages to capture its essence into a joyous, uplifting affair that is certain to improve your mood.
Spotlight Kid released their second album 'Disaster Tourist' (although the first in their current form) last month and despite a relatively low-key release deserves your attention, for it's an incredible album that combines all the best parts of a much maligned (not by me) genre, shoegaze. Luscious, sweet vocal tones echoes softly wrapped up in spiralling walls of guitars noise, reverberating, spiralling melodies that are equal parts dark, brooding and heavenly.
Lead-single "Forget Yourself In Me" is fantastic, delivered at blistering pace it offers a euphoric head-rush of driving drums, angry guitars and ethereal dual vocal harmonies. Similarly frantic is opener "Plan Comes Apart", heavier, with thick bass-lines and grungy guitars, it, like most of the album (and their emphatic live show), commands to be played loud, very fucking loud. Their are softer, beautiful moments, "Freefall" spends two minutes blissfully melting your heart before saturating it with endless waves of feedback and fuzzed-up guitars.
The album version of "All Is Real" cloaks Katty Heath's tender vocals in fuzzy layers of overdriven guitar, the stand-out though is "Haunting Me", at six minutes in length it never feels over long, pounding drums and fizzing guitars mould together to a celestial combination of glistening and sweeping soundscapes. 'Disaster Tourist' is an intoxicating blend of light and dark, eleven tracks seamlessly fit together to make this one of the most rewarding albums of the year from a band you really should fall in love with.
It's hard to believe Janine Rostron grew up in Bolton, though now a Berlin native her Planningtorock alter-ego is a bold visionary who through her electronically processed, prosthetic nosed wielding character has created quite the spectacular album. 'W', her second record is as left-field, original and damn right disconcerting, yet uniquely soulful, as it gets.
Opener "Doorway" is utterly mesmerising, combining doomy, threatening atmospherics and experimental soundscapes to spectacular effect, pulsating synthesisers, rumbling rhythms and hypnotic sax create an otherworldly air that is mystically alluring and weirdly danceable. On "The Breaks" a soulful groove sees Janine's passionate, melodramatic delivery result in the most commanding track on the album.
The unusual combination of saxophone, strings and synths make the hazy, funky stomp of "Living it Out" another obvious highlight, Janine's charged vocals fly around at all angles while frenetic strings and groovy, convoluting beats combine to make a track equally playful and fun and catchy. The same could be said about "I'm Yr Man", throbbing beats and distorted, catchy choruses.
There are many moods and tempos throughout the albums 12 tracks, as there are vocal styles, the aptly-titled cover "Janine", sees the PTR gender games continue, a distorted masculine track while “#9”, a slower paced ballad adds beautiful, sensual depth to this quite superb album.
I Break Horses released their debut full length 'Hearts' via Bella Union back in August, the Stockholm duo (as a side note, perhaps the best packaged LP of the year too) have crafted a beautiful record of pulsating beats and luscious, glistening soundscapes, icy electronica shrouded in layers of ghostly guitars and subtle, atmospheric sythns.
"Hearts", for me at least, is the signature I Break Horses track, perhaps because it's what hooked me first, it's simply heavenly. Frozen beats sparkle while pulsating rhythms add a slightly sinister tone (my initial reaction was The Terminator theme way back in July 2010) all softly woven amongst echoey drums and the hushed yet, ethereal coos of Maria Lindén. Her voice, as beautiful as it is, acts as another layer of the instrumentation where the lyrical content matters little.
"Winter Beats" glistens like sun over a snowy landscape, where gorgeously dreamy synth pulses and reverberating layers of noise collide. Maria's vocals barely more than a whisper, it's celestial, otherworldly and undeniably beautiful.
The album continues in similar luxurious fashion, a sonic orgasm of swoon-some atmospherics. "No Way Outro" closes the album with dramatic effect, fast-paced drumming and the spectral fragility of "I Kill Love, Baby!" show a more refined style that is infinitely gorgeous. Though, I could have just as easily said "Cancer" and "Empty Bottles", this really is album that demands whole consumption rather than cherry picking, 'Hearts' is completely and undeniably luxurious.
'Strange Mercy' the third album by St. Vincent and the first after the critically acclaimed 'Actor' saw Annie Clark confirm her talent and reach new levels of unadulterated fan-boy loving amongst people like myself, her combination of seemingly endless talent (personal opinion put her as the finest guitar player I've seen this live this year - over 150 gigs), incredible intelligence (read her interviews) and poster-girl looks combine to make her one of the most dazzling performers both on-stage and on record.
'Strange Mercy' is a fusion of what made her previous two albums so fantastic, vocals one minute beguiling strong, the next serenely sweet and dense inventive melodies prone to frenzied, rock spikes now with an added experimental, electronic edge. Take opener "Chloe in The Afternoon", part savage rock assault, part complex structures all brought together so fascinatingly by off-kilter rhythms and Annie's rich vocals, it can't but make you go 'wow'. The enchanting single "Surgeon" starts as beautiful as they come before the looping, guitar noodling closes the track in flawless manner, a track that brings genuine goosebumps.
The album continues in a consistently high standard where Annie's bold approach not to stand still is displayed for all to see, the poppy hook of "Cruel" and the softer moments such as the beautiful "Cheerleader" and the smoothly sung title track "Strange Mercy" are equally celestial and then she only goes and blows your socks off with the fuzzed up dirge of the full-on rocker "Northern Lights". Spellbinding.
We've been spoilt by two albums within just eight months by Pendu recording artist Chelsea Wolfe, the second 'Ἀποκάλυψις' / 'Apokalypsis' came out in August and is genuinely breathtaking, cloaked with mysterious, eerie melodies and beautifully sinister sounds taking its lead from the album titles two Greek meanings ("apocalypse" and "revelation") for amongst the droning electronics, reverberating ambience and thunderous rhythms are these delightful otherworldly moments, for tense and harrowing it maybe, it is also soothing and quite beautiful too
A dark and distorted organ intro gives clear intent, bone-chilling and hauntingly moody, the desolate and distant drones of "Wasteland" combine a gentle drum machine beat and a windy howl to create an intense ambience all wrapped around Chelsea's ethereal whispers. Intense is definitely the right word to describe the listening experience, her craft and soul is laid bare for all to see. The vocal range is superb, equally capable of soft and delicate whispers and demented, intense cries.
Highlights are evident throughout, the exquisite "Moses" with its doom-laden drums, heavy guitar chords swathed in distortion, the equally slow paced "Pale on Pale" highlights the sinister foreboding atmosphere that Chelsea creates best and "Mer" with its hypnotic rumbling beats and creepy fast-paced guitar comes close to letting in sunlight amongst the gloom, but then I'm neglecting to mention the Gothic cries and off-kilter guitars of "Demons" and the sheer beauty of album closure "Movie Screen"
Get the limited edition vinyl from Pendu now. The debut LP 'The Grime and The Glow' is equally worthy of this slot (check out my album review here), it's vinyl release is now sold-out (although a CD repress is due) so don't dilly-dally for too long.
