Lorna
Constellations
Constellations is the sixth record by the Nottingham sextet Lorna featuring nine new songs that evoke the classic indie pop of Belle and Sebastian, the fractured beauty of Camera Obscura, and the poignancy of a David Lynch soundtrack.The record infuses shimmering, summery dream pop with a rich blend of orchestration and analogue electronics helmed by singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Rolfe. Husband and wife songwriting team Rolfe and Sharon Cohen-Rolfe summon the best of Scottish pop for the album's first single, "Through the Tall Grass" while flutist Matthew Harrison and the band's three-piece string section deliver call-and-response melodies along the way.The record is steeped in lush and varied instrumentation that navigates soaring chord progressions, such as the opening title track in which a two-plus minute coda finds Stereolab experimenting with a Sergio Leone score. "Restoration" recalls label mates Coastal as it maps ethereal dream pop soundscapes onto a post-rock blueprint. Inspired confections like the buoyant "Foxes," elegant "Distant Chords," and the album-closing "Kaleidoscope" are penned and performed with an unassuming earnestness that resonates authenticity - ensuring Constellations will stir memories and create a new soundtrack for fading Septembers all the way through the "metronome of an August night." Signposts: Belle & Sebastian, Camera Obscura, American Analog Set