Quickbeam – Quickbeam

Although Quickbeam is their debut release, this Glasgow-based quartet have been honing their ethereal, meditative folk for three years, and their debut evinces an impressive maturity. With Monika Gromek’s delicate vocals as a centrepiece, the band weave a backdrop of guitar, piano, harmonium and cello, a combination which maintains a dreamily hypnotic atmosphere throughout. In its studied simplicity and emotional directness, the end result sounds something like a folk-tinged take on Low’s glacial post-rock.

Quickbeam are more inclined than such forebears to vary the volume and pace: forthcoming single Immersed builds into a brief crescendo of deft piano arpeggios and strings, while Home ups the tempo and throws shoegaze guitars into the mix. These moments vary the texture and palette of the record, although not its tone, which remains unblinkingly heartfelt and sincere. As a result, Quickbeam has an unusual sense of emotional continuity and coherence, which bodes well for the band’s future. [Sam Wiseman]