Alphabet Saints Raptureland (Ah! Bright Wings)
4/5
By: Christiana Spens
Alphabet Saints’ Raptureland is an exciting soundscape to explore, another world populated by ghosts, echoes, sultry whispers of forbidden tales.
We meet ‘European Girl’, a wistful deliberation on a dark encounter, which is addicting in its elusive, curious voices and electronica… Then in ‘Jessica’s Heartbreak’ we encounter a beckoning, at times thrilling voice, telling further stories of difficult love and imagined transcendence.
There are reminders of Roxy Music and Gainsbourg throughout the record, as if the music remembers them in its own past – as if this record describes a hidden world first claimed by those stars, and now inviting new people to articulate its elusive heights and never-ending sensuality.
Raptureland is a curious, fascinating exploration of this history, this sensibility – aware of its predecessors but original nonetheless. It draws us in to a multi-layered depiction of musical imagination and exploration – managing to be understated and relaxed rather than showy or over-excited. A sophisticated, clever debut.
- Listen to the whole album on the band’s SoundCloud page.
Carry on Marianne by Alphabet Saints
Artists in this article: Alphabet Saints
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