On the Water Thrill Jockey****

The Baltimore three-piece follow up their shimmering In Evening Airwith an equally special third record. The title song opens up their kind of sacred space: romantic synths, oriental flushes and an air of softness from where Samuel T Herring's baying vocal soars. Before the Bridge, a dreamy dubby dance track, shares space with slow-moving instrumental Open. Jenn Wesner of Wye Oak duets on The Great Fire, providing a somewhat epic and emotional effect. Close to Nonerecalls the best of Roxy Music's More Than This, as Tybee Islandrecalls The Cocteau Twins. But it is the painfully raw Where I Found Youthat is the true distilling of their impulse; when Herring sings "don't let today push out the past", you sense that he is singing for his life. See future- islands.com

Download tracks: On the Water, The Great Fire, Where I Found You