some of it was true!

Here’s this week hand-out of five great songs freshly installed on my iTunes player:

Tunng – Don’t Look Down Or Back
Chiara, the girl I’m crazy about, watches a lot of VH1 and listens to a lot of the Smiths… but she also knows a great current band when she hears them, hence her telling me about London’s Tunng.  Foremost folktronica specialists, this is the first taste of their fourth album: a whimsical tune about a tragic-sounding woman, complete with echoey boy-girl vocals, a rousing and offbeat chorus, horns and typically powerful string work.  It’s majestic.

Seabear – Lion Face Boy
A shy and slowly seductive pop treat, peaceful and poignant in equal measure.  Each wave-crest comes with a brassy polish, and the sound and intensity gradually increases before a jaunty conclusion.  A sevenpiece hailing from Iceland, Seabear’s MySpace page is packed with videos of fans covering their songs. 

the morning benders – Promises
Something of a guilty pleasure, this: Promises has a simple structure plus bouncy and none-too-original chords, and yet somehow it manages to be swirlingly wonderful, with a stirring chorus you can’t resist ‘whoaaaa’-ing along to.  That singalong-ness hints at the touch of Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, who co-produced, and also explains why Rough Trade has just signed the morning benders up.

Joanna Newsom – Kingfisher
The girl who made harps cool, Joanna Newsom’s back with the follow-up to her much-acclaimed Ys album.  So far, it seems she’s gone for a subtler, more subdued sound, with less of the occasionally irritating lyrics and more of an instrumental focus.  Kingfisher is a nine-minute odyssey, packed with lovely refrains and moonshine moments.  Irresistible.

White Hinterland – Icarus
As winter rumbles relentlessly on and things seem less and less manageable, you need dreams to escape to – and you need a soundtrack for you. Her band’s sound newly minimal, Casey Dienel’s ice-pure voice, soft keyboard beats and ghostly backing male vocals are all it takes White Hinterland to conjure up the gentlest, most fragile melody I’ve heard in some time.  Play with the lights down low.

All download links are in the titles.