SMOKE FAIRIES

Carried In Sound (Year Seven)

This intimate album of alt-folk follows three years after Chichester duo Smoke Fairies released the far rockier Darkness Brings The Wonders Home, and a lot appears to have happened in the lives of Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies in that time. They deal openly with grief and loss across the 11-song, home-recorded Carried In Sound, and the result does a wonderful job creating such mesmerising accompaniment from the instruments around the house – although the vocals are left feeling a little underproduced compared with the backings.

Lead single Vanishing Line, with its stalling yet haunting accompaniment, sounds instantly classic and excitingly new at the same time, while followup release Seek It With Me has a Clannad-like quality to the beautiful harmony singing that Smoke Fairies are so well known for. The title track harks back to the Americana-influenced guitar work of Darkness… in an album that is varied, yet maintains a central delicateness. 

words JOHN-PAUL DAVIES