Sparrow and the Workshop – Spitting Daggers

Having only released their debut EP in mid-2009, here Sparrow and the Workshop are already with their second album proper. With each step they’ve grown stronger and more accomplished; written between tours, Spitting Daggers rattles along with the confidence of a band who’ve truly honed their skills on the live circuit.

While Chicagoan Jill O’Sullivan’s dulcet drawl is still the lynchpin, the musical palette ranges wider than before. Album highlight You Don’t Trust Anyone hustles along on stop-start drums and yowling battle cries, where the brooding Soft Sound Of Your Voice is a dark, grainy lullaby with crackling percussive crescendos that sound straight out a thunderstorm.

Elsewhere, songs like Father Look and Old Habits unfurl gently around layered instruments and echoed vocals. Although the density of the record sometimes loses a few of its more delicate details, it makes for an enduring experience that reveals new depths with each spin. [Anna Docherty]