Trapped Mice -‘Winter Sun.’ (Armellodie)

Glasgow’s Armellodie label have released some fine bands over the last while, including the Scottish Enlightenment, Chris Devotion and the Expectations and Le Reno Amps. But I think this is their finest release so far.

The Edinburgh five piece Trapped Mice have been around for a while now, but this debut album, Winter Sun, is as wonderfully beautiful and touchingly melancholic as you would hope an album with that title would be. First single ‘Mona Lisa’ mixes reflective organ and mournful violin and proves itself to be a pretty fine tune. Sure there’s angst, but there’s humour here, too. And on the evidence of this whole album, the band more than hold their own against the likes of Meursault, Withered Hand and the Savings & Loan, to pick three very fine bands from the contemporary Edinburgh scene.

And like the best albums, even before it’s over, you just know that this is an album you’re going to want to play again and again. It’s one of the strongest albums I’ve heard this year-so make sure you hear it, too.

****1/2

Winter Sun is released on Armellodie on November 5.