Emily Scott with the Fell Down Trio-‘Stray Light.’
This is an utterly gorgeous album, and quite unlike anything I have heard all year. I’ve enjoyed much of Ms. Scott’s previous work, but over the course of a record lasting little more than half an hour, she has produced an album for voice and string trio, with a bit of help from King Creosote on backing vocals.
So no, not another singer-songwriter-guitarist (not that she ever was). This is a summery record, and proof that such things do not have to be reggae ultra-lite or cheesy. Instead, what we have is an album that almost defies categorisation, and is all the better for it. One of the few comparisons I can draw with is Elvis Costello’s collaboration with The Brodsky Quartet, The Juliet Letters. And even then, perhaps because that was for voice and string quartet and that may even be where it ends.
It may seem unusual at first, but as with the all best albums, it reveals more and more of its charms with each successive play. Truly something that does not sound like anything else.
How much do I like this record? Well, it’s the first album that I’ve played three times back to back in a long time. That’s it for starters….
****1/2
Stray Light is out now on Slow Sync
