Clangour

The warm and fuzzy pop of Sin Fang Bous, a solo project of Seabear's Sindri Mar Sigfusson indebted as much to twee shoegaze as much as crackling glitch, gets a lovely showcase from the start on Clangour, with the rushed hyperactivity of "Advent in Ives Garden" kicking things off. With confections like the surf-touched "Melt Down the Knives" and the pulsing beat and soft banjo of "We Belong" — not a Pat Benatar cover, but that would have been interesting — the album balances sunniness with a thick fog of echo more than slightly suggestive of early Magnetic Fields, but the singing of Sigfusson, especially on the conclusion of "Fa Fa Fa" but in evidence throughout, is nowhere near Stephin Merritt's dark murmurings (and some might find that a distinct plus). At times a more rock & roll approach takes the lead, at least in a classically lo-fi manner — thus the peppy, psych-tinged strum of "Catch the Light," Sigfusson's vocals an emotional ghostly whisper. Elsewhere the shimmering folk beauty of "A Fire to Sleep In," acoustic guitar and hushed harmony singing suddenly given a brisk, stuttering electronic beat below the extra textures in the arrangement, stands out as a beautiful highlight, the performance getting brighter and more attractive as the song progresses.