The Epstein
Album: Murmurations
Label: Pias
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.theepstein.com

Whilst the previous The Epstein releases have captured the vibe of their live performances, the approach to "Murmurations" has been deliberately to take advantage of what a studio has to offer, to be able to do the sort of vast, almost cinematic album that truly can't have that live feel. One that will sound different on disk and stage.

That's not to say they've gone for an effects laden album far from it, it's just one that takes advantage of the width a studio gives you. It annoys me going to a gig and hearing a band performing songs exactly as they sound on the album and it's also something that can work in reverse, a band can spend too much effort trying to capture their live sound that they can sometimes forget about the music and I don't think it's a coincidence that "Murmurations" is the best The Epstein album to date, they have freed themselves from the chains of that constraint.

The main beneficiaries have been the songs. You listen to songs like "Sophia Loren", that not only focuses on Sophia Loren as a metaphor, but does so on a cinematic scale, it's a quality pop song, with a great narrative and a real richness and depth to the sound. You can hear that it can be done live, but you know that it will be a different song when done so.

Similarly you only need to hear the open chords of "Chimes" to know that it's something that is infused into the heart of the record, that "Murmurations" is an album that whilst it has folk sensibilities fuses them into a more pop context, that feels like it might become a staple of the radio over the summer, as importantly it also feels like the sort of music that could take a festival stage and get an audience bouncing, but you know it'll sound different, which is as it should be.

Neil King