There's a moment right at the end of Holding The Strings, track five on the new album by Glasgow-based five-piece Admiral Fallow, when the melody slips unexpectedly into the minor key. A small point, true enough, but exactly the kind of thrillingly ambitious detail that Tiny Rewards abounds in.
The band have moved on from the days when they could be classified as indie folk with some chamber arrangements on top. Textures are different from earlier releases (more keyboards, from bass synth upwards) and there's now a collective method to each song's composition, so that this talented set of musicians all bring ideas to the pot - melodic, harmonic, rhythmic - resulting in an album that reveals new secrets every time it is heard.
And yet there's also a songwriter's cohesion to these bold structures, no doubt aided by singer Louis Abbott's steady hand while shaping the lyrics. Liquor And Milk is an authentically uplifting piece of music, Sarah Hayes' voice such a perfect counterbalance to Abbott's lead that to call it backing vocals would do it a disservice; and although initially wary of Evangeline as an Admiral Fallow single, I'm now convinced it is one of the best songs of the year from anywhere on the map.
An exceptional album and band, both more than the sum of their parts.
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