Tamer Animals TBD****

American indie rock's ongoing flirtation with the beardier elements of dusty English folk continues to produce some glorious dividends. You can draw lines between the work of Other Lives and fellow travellers on the folk revival bus – there are hints on Tamer Animals, their second album, of Fleet Foxes' harmonic heft and Midlake's pastoral richness, for instance. But the Oklahomans also roam other musical highways and byways, not beholden to any one scene. Their fondness for graceful orchestration adds a layer of sumptuous melancholy to the mix, while the striking breadth of the arrangements underpins their ambitious songcraft.

With Jesse Tabish's fine voice leading the line, songs such as As I Lay My Head Down, For 12and Old Statueswill send you away to daydream about life under the big sky beyond Other Lives' window. See otherlives. com

Download tracks: As I Lay My Head Down, For 12, Old Statues