From the co-founder of Trunk Records, Stephen Cracknell, and the lead singer of Tuung, Sam Genders, comes The Accidental – a simply wonderful, dreamy folk group with hazy vocals delicately layered above an intricate patchwork of sounds and samples.
Genders’ northern, nasal voice lends the album an air of comfortable familiarity to the dark and poetic lyrics of ‘There Were Wolves,’ painting bright, vivid images in your consciousness, and as the click of fingers and the hum of violins gently creep in, patterns and textures are added to the silent film in your head.
Hannah Cauglin, part of the Fence Collective acolyte’s The Bicycle Thieves rich creamy voice adds hypnotic colour to soft, gentle looping melodies such as the joyful, uplifting ‘I Can Hear Your Voice’ and the scraping violins on the melancholy ‘Illuminated Red.’
Then it’s ‘Wolves’ with Cracknell at the fore, and some turns of phrase that turn seedy tales of nights out on the pull into elegant poetry: “There are wolves lying in the dark and so she rises up like a butterfly.”
This is a breathtakingly lovely release and one which forces you to stop what you’re doing so you can drink in the thick, sweet melodies and admire the intricate and delicate musicianship wrapping itself around this simply stunning folk record that won’t be matched too often this year.
