LOW LIGHT LISTENING LISTENING LOUNGE

Album: Low Light Listening Lounge

A friendship forged from a childhood growing up in the same Highland town ultimately led the now Glasgow-based duo of Alasdair Mackenzie and Ewen White to their self-titled debut as Low Light Listening Lounge. Infused with a thoroughly Scottish lilt and a deeply held camaraderie, the connection between the pair radiates from the 10-track offering.

With their debut boasting a high production feel, Low Light Listening Lounge are far from diamonds in need of polishing. In fact, a little more time spent down the mines discovering where their more left-field excursions may take them will see the duo emerge ready to hit the festival stages their songs sound built for.

Low Light Listening Lounge is out now

Craig Howieson

The Murder Capital

Album: Gigi’s Recovery

Given the significant wave of Irish guitar bands bundling onto the scene these days, it’s tempting to cast The Murder Capital as grizzled veterans of the genre. Gigi’s Recovery is only the band’s second album, albeit launched into a very different world than 2019’s When I Have Fears , and they boldly attempt to showcase their youth and inquisitive spirit alongside a growing maturity.

‘Crying’ roars into life after a tense and morose opener, but it’s not celebratory; it exists with reservations. This mood continues, creating an album made of and for these times.

The faux-soul openings of ‘Wilfully Blind’ and ‘Sweet Woman’ are something of a misnomer. Decent tracks in their own right, they do little to hint at the smattering of technicolour gems that make up the rest of the record. The band are at their best when they embrace their experimental side, indulging in the weird pockets of sounds that wrestle for space under Mackenzie’s smoothly produced vocal lines. ‘Catch You Dead’ and ‘Wake Up’ are perfect encapsulations of their indie-electro stylings, sitting somewhere between Bombay Bicycle Club and Broken Bells, while former single ‘honest g’ is near perfect.

The clinical intro of ‘The Stars Will Leave Their Stage’ is a highlight, but it’s an album packed with collective presence and a foreboding aura. A shuffling rhythm almost forces ‘A Thousand Lives’ into a run, but the message of being in this together against everyone else never drops. The album develops lighter moments, but cautiously so.

Gigi’s Recovery is out now on Human Season Records

Andrew Reilly