Still Corner’s debut is like walking through dimly lit, bohemian bar from back in the 60s. The sound is drenched in a smoky atmosphere, there are hints of psychedelic undertones, and the singer, Tessa Murray, can now be used as the audio definition for the word ‘ethereal’.

The organ sounds waver and fluctuate throughout the record. They thicken the mix, darken the lights and hark back to a more retro vibration. On opener, ‘Cuckoo’, the chords hum continuously, the soft snares and occasional guitars respectful of the ambience that has been laid down. Murray’s voice floats atop, in-between and among the streaming sound-waves.

‘Into the Trees’ is almost a wake-up call (in Still Corner terms anyway). It lets the guitars off their relatively restrained leash, the drums continually tumble and the bass-line beats with intent. It closes with a distorted wave of guitar moving in some cavernous surroundings.

Yet as accomplished as most of these songs are in creating a spacious and haunting vibe, we did occasionally crave a few more memorable hooks. Thankfully ‘I Wrote in Blood’ delivers ten-fold. Along with the low-key guitar strums and arpeggio synth comedown, the vocal melody and performance from Murray is a yeaning request you hope will be answered: “I can leave now, just drive away, only you and me, lets take a chance, like we use to.”

The secluded and enigmatic instrumentation found here, along with Murray’s celestial intonation, is never short of effective. But it sometimes means the heart and soul of the songs are too vaporous to hold on to – almost lost in the ambience that is so well executed.

That said you can’t deny that this is a debut of atmospheric beauty that could be the start of something very special.

-Adrian Hopper-