Coldharbourstores – Wilderness

Of all the turn-of- the-century bands one might reasonably have expected to reform in recent years, surely no one had their money on London’s Coldharbourstores. Still, 14 years on from their softly-softly debut More Than The Other comes Wilderness: eight tracks of luscious indietronica, deftly brushed by the hand of shoegaze and with their sense of ruminative melancholia intact.

A marvellous production job from Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis, East India Youth) allows the band space to breathe amidst the Cocteaus-esque shimmer of opener Sightless – particularly when the spotlight switches to novelist Scott Heim’s brief monologue. It’s new vocalist Lucy Castro who seals the deal, however; whether soaring and searching (Genie) or pitch-shifted and mysterious (Kissing), she gives character and colour to David Read and Michael McCabe’s shifting washes of melody and texture.

Guess all that time to reflect in the, ahem, wilderness was worthwhile, then – unlikely as it is to bust them out of the indie ghettoes, Coldharbourstores’ unexpected return is a very lovely thing indeed.

Listen to: Sightless, Kissing