This is the latest album from The Catenary Wires one of the many bands featuring Rob Pursey and Amelia Fletcher such as Heavenly, Talulah Gosh or Swansea Sound.
The album fades into Face On The Railway Line in a gentle Mazzy Star meets Belle & Sebastian in a folk club kind of way it's very pretty.
Alpine seems to be listing all the Alpine things they can think of in a soothing chiming indie-pop paean to all the wonders of being in an Alpine location and of course the dangers that might pose from Avalanches to skiing accidents, but just walking in the alpine air is good enough and this feels like a good deep breath of Alpine air.
Always On My Mind almost feels in debt to Lee Hazelwood protegee's She Ltd in it's crystalline 60's style chamber pop and a song with so many layers of production making it into a very sumptuous song of longing and love.
The first single from the album Mirrorball is next and Mirrorball is a wonderful song about going to an 80's disco of the kind Tallulah Gosh fans would have been wallflowers at, but now it's a great excuse for them to flirt with each other over the lush chamber pop backing that just makes you want to dance under that Mirrorball and not get too self-conscious about how cool or otherwise that pop was and is.
Three Wheeled Car is a tribute to is it a Reliant Robin or something more exotic like a classic Messerschmitt as they sing about the cliffs at Birling Gap and the love they have between them, as the Western indie pop captures the wonder of cruising through the b-roads of the Kent countryside dreaming of becoming the new Scott Walker.
Liminal doesn't have as much space in the sound as you might imagine a tune of that name to have as Amelia explains her situation over the pulsing beat that is like the breath she sings about.
Canterbury Lanes does in fact sound like they have heard some very Canterbury scene music and have been wandering round the lanes close to the Cathedral, drinking in one of the 500 year old pubs close by, while making this beautiful music that might at times hint at the New Seekers of all people as the piper does his stuff.
Cinematic would sound great on a playlist next to Barry Adamson's Cinematic Soul, although this is almost more knowing than that classic cinematic song, as they want an automatic experience with lots of chiming sounds.
Like The Rain sounds like it comes from the soundtrack of a 1970's TV Series shown in the school holidays such as Belle and Sebastian or something similar as Amelia longs for the Rain as others might long for Summer Wine a wonderful piece of chamber pop.
The album closes with Overview Effect that opens like it might be based on a medieval folk song before becoming more slightly fey indie full of feeling and the beauty they have maintained throughout this album.
Find out more at http://catenarywiresband.com/ https://catenarywires.bandcamp.com/album/birling-gap-north-america-only http://catenarywiresband.com/
