Winter Villains -‘Once There Were Sparks, Now There Are Ashes.’ (Owlet Music)

Winter Villains are the Cardiff-based act Josef Prygodzicz and Faye Gibson. Descrined as being an experimental chamber pop-band, they could also be said to inhabit that relatively uncharted space where indie-pop meets post-rock.

‘Empire,’ the first single from this, their sophomore album is a perfect introduction: boy/girl vocals, deceptively simple and utterly heartbreaking. This track alone I could listen to for hours at a time (or my heart broke, which I think it could). Then there’s the beautiful ‘Hunters’ which is in waltz-time, and the experiments with a an ambient-meets pastoral sound on ‘We Lost Our Children To The Depths Of The Forest’ and the title track…I could go on.

As with labelmates Trwbador, there’s a sense of wonder at the sheer beauty, creativity and, Goddammit, originality that’s going on here. Are you ready to be heartbroken? Go on, you know you want to…

****1/2

Once There Were Sparks, Now There Are Ashes is out now on Owlet Music