Sky Larkin - 'Kaleide'
Sky Larkin release their second effort, 'Kaleide', the follow up to last year's debut 'The Golden Spike'. It starts off very brightly with 'Still Windmills', a recently released single. One of the record’s highlights, a song which is no departure from the previous release, being a well-crafted three minute pop song.
Each member of the trio goes along doing their job more than competently, and they all seem to have an almost equally valuable role - the bass has some neat melodic flourishes, the drumming is sturdy but still varied and the guitar drives things along with a good amount of rhythmic jangle.
Added to this, singer Katie Harkin’s understatedly appealing voice seems well suited to the music, although lyrically it is a bit hit and miss. There are some good ones dotted here and there, but the vocals are quite high in the mix, which, coupled with frequent repeated lines, sometimes serves only to highlight their occasional clunky nature.
This is just a minor gripe as 'Kaleide' is a good, solid collection of tunes. There aren’t really any particularly bad points about the album – it’s just that at the same time it isn’t ever massively enthralling. There are enough good bits to warrant a few listens, but you hope that Sky Larkin are confident enough in the future to hone them a little more adventurously. Perhaps something with a bit more depth and range of ideas that builds on the undoubted promise that 'Kaleide' shows. Stream the album in the embedded player below for a limited time.
STREAM: Sky Larkin - Still Windmills
'Kaleide' was released in August 2010 and can be purchased in several different formats at weareskylarkin.com.
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