LeMarinel's solo debut is a glorious calling card of acoustic folk musicianship
Within twenty seconds of listening to Violence, the following have crossed my mind: RM Hubbert, The Flaming Lips, Supertramp, Joanna Newsom, Yes and a sense of wonder. Can the rest of Glasgow singer-songwriter Finn LeMarinel’s debut album live up to this first-flush?
I’ll spare you the suspense: yes it can. This is a glorious calling card. Opener ‘Garden’ is an archetypal salutation, all sparse arrangements, gorgeous vocals and hyper-expressive nylon guitars (reminiscent of Ubisano boss Hubbert), and there are myriad other sinuous thrills from the sometime Trapped in Kansas man, notably ‘Roll in the Grime’ and ‘Sown’. Exquisite centrepiece ‘Known Voices’, meanwhile, is a reminder of all that we have in life, and is one of the year’s most beautiful songs.