Rod Waterman

Twin Flames, the new solo album from Wintersleep’s Paul Murphy under the POSTDATA banner, is a rare and paradoxical combination in that it manages to be modestly epic, humbly grandiose, painting large screen technicolor romantic pictures by stealth. How he manages to do this might be the big trick of Twin Flames, although it’s by no means the only one.

The press materials that accompany Jane Weaver’s new album say the following: “Flock is a natural rebellion to the recent releases which sees her decidedly move away from conceptual roots in favor of writing pop music.” With all due respect to our Fire Records colleagues, there’s a good deal to take issue in that statement.

Brijean’s Feelings is a solid set of 11 pop-dance-lounge songs, and that might be more than enough. The instrumentation and arrangements are tasteful and sophisticated, the lyrics elliptical and intriguing, and it’s the kind of album that can just easily live in the foreground or the background, in the living room, or on the dancefloor. It’s a great album to herald the proximity of spring, to get us through the last of winter and perhaps the beginning of the end of our confinement.