“Conor & Eimer Devlin (no relation, originally Irish, but relocated from these shores some years ago) form the core of this three-piece. They’ve produced a beguiling album of sunburst guitar melodies, sitting on a foundation of drone, with a thin gauze of hazy suspense draped over it.
We’ve already spoken about the chiming single National Runner written about the Ethiopian long-distance athlete Miruts Yifter and it shares something of his relentless drive. The widescreen feel of Boats is created with banks of ringing, Byrdsian guitars, which combine for a thrilling crescendo.
The beautiful Sea Years has Eimer’s hushed, low-in the-mix vocal set against a driving bassline (reminiscient of Yo La Tengo a little bit). There’s more than a shade of shoegaze about both Sister Song and Little Good It Did You, with fuzz smears and high-fretted bass. And I love The Slow Track with its ingenious uplift of trumpet, coming in the wake of a closet bossa nova. Enigmatic but approachable as anything.”