Marissa Nadler – Strangers

Seven albums in, Boston native Marissa Nadler reunites with producer Randall Dunn, who recorded 2014's July, and continues in much the same vein. That clean mezzo-soprano (and it is, as ever, quite beautiful) is framed by a backing austere but full; processed guitars amidst an ocean of reverb.

Atmosphere is everything in Nadler's oeuvre. The dynamics of her songs and their careful arrangements are sketched with subtlety: there are few 'big' moments. With that in mind, it's the beefier, fuller tunes that stand out. Katie I Know and Janie In Love are gripping full band realisations of Nadler's delicate compositions.

Nothing Feels the Same has the same haunted, shades-drawn languor of Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence, and there's a clue to the problem. Both artists favour style style over substance, but Nadler's work is ultimately less storied than Del Rey's and too under-dramatised to really connect, to really hurt.