CORVUS
Can You Hear The Sleigh Bells Ringing?★★★
Lynchburg Records
Corvus are a bunch of session musicians from Birmingham. But everything about them screams Europop: from the singer's unironic mullet and leather stud bracelets, to lyrics that seem like they were badly mistranslated from some foreign language. ("If your heart's too heavy," mullet man sings at one point. "I'll hold you up / Cos at this time of year, I just can't get enough." Enough of what? Nothing in this song makes any sense.) It would be easy to sneer. But there is something unmistakably likeable about these guys. Maybe it's seasonable goodwill. Maybe it's the gratuitous key change at 3:57. I'm not sure which. But as a wise man once said, at this time of year, I just can't get enough…
MARGO PRICE
Hands of Time ★★★★
Third Man Records
Margo Price's bio reads like a compendium of country music clichés. She grew on a farm. Experienced poverty. Lost her first child. Hit the bottle. Spent time in prison. Pawned her wedding ring to fund her debut record. The resulting album, Midwest Farmer's Daughter, is one of the year's finest. Hands of Time is that album's stunning, autobiographical opening track and she's finally made a video for it. She plays Dublin's Button Factory on January 22nd and I can not recommend seeing her highly enough.
LAURA MARLING
Soothing ★★★★
More Alarming Records
I'm not sure if the strings on Laura Marling's latest single remind me more of Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billie Joe or Johnny Greenwood's soundtrack for There Will Be Blood. In any event, the effect is unsettling and far from soothing. New album Semper Femina is out March 10th.
I AM NIAMH
Bellend★★★
Bellend is the incongruously titled new single from the classically trained Niamh Parkinson's Wonderland album. It launches at the Bello Bar in Dublin on December 9th.
