THIS IS THE KIT

Careful Of Your Keepers (Rough Trade)

Careful Of Your Keepers is an unassuming instalment from This Is The Kit, and one of the more sombre records to come from Kate Stables’ Bristol collective. The album continues some of the themes from 2020’s Off Off On, dealing with poetic opposites and repetition, but the tone is closer to that of 2017’s Moonshine Freeze.

The songwriting is balanced and gentle; nothing is overdone, and Gruff Rhys proves to be an unobtrusive producer; Kate’s unadorned vocals provide the main event, alongside Rozi Plain’s bass, which is exquisite on the album’s title track. Points of interest include the jolty time signature of This Is When The Sky Gets Big, the sweeping piano accompaniment in Doomed Or More Doomed and pretty much everything about the charming Stuck In A Room. With its endearing push and pull and playful momentum, the song could only be improved by lengthening it. 

words ROSANNA LEWIS