A beautiful, celebratory album of the pioneering British ‘folktronica’ band’s 20 years of music, with an eighth LP of brand new songs fully capturing their distinctive, delicate, crisply poetic, agile style with a delicious feeling of circularity. That rich blend of unison voice, the precise, crisp, acoustic playing, the quirky electronica fills and polyrhythms are all present, from the charming opener Everything Else, a series of metaphors for their motivation and music making, beginning with a simple pun - “They speak in a tongue that they don't understand … Why do we do this? / We find ourselves here in the fray / Lost in time …. Why do we do this? / We send our joy like tiny kites / And hold on tight.” Didn’t Know Why, which plays like a cleverly scratchy old English nursery rhyme, begins with the line “Jenny said, ‘No, I don't wanna go home’", recalling the song Jenny Again, from their second album Comments of the Inner Chorus (2006). There is particular return-to-beginnings feeling here with an echo from their first two albums. Sixes contains some classic beeps and blips interweaving through a gentle melody and a sense of oneness (“We are an ocean”), while Snails is another quirky charmer with free-flowing strums, clarinet, a lovely melody, and one about capturing the love to all all who have part of the band’s journey over 20 years. Other standouts include the beautiful finger-picking and clicking sounds of Deep Underneath, and Levitate a Little. This fitting gem of an album is a gorgeous way to celebrate two decades of music with one of their very best, all from a six-piece band that feels very like a family. Out on Full Time Hobby.
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