In the words of Irish singer-songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances, her debut album explores a “dark vast landscape” of “liminal space”, an imagined place where she would “sit with uncertainty and accept it”. In practical terms, that means an album of woozy psych-folk that initially seems curiously out of focus, almost as if taking a cue from the title, LP co-producer/musical collaborator Cian Nugent’s childhood mishearing of Llandudno Junction.
But listen again and, as detail begins to emerge, something remarkable happens. There are glorious melodies, notably on the spiralling Here In The Dark, and lyrical grit in the way Blow Up takes its cue from abortion being until very recently illegal in Ireland. It’s a debut that, despite first impressions, explores uncertainty and doubt with clarity and real heart. Gorgeous.
8/10
Jonathan Wright