Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Albums of the Year # 6 Paper Bee - Thaw, Freeze, Thaw

 


I've found another one! You can play this game at home too.  It's not difficult to do. Just skim down the new releases playlist each Friday, pick a name that takes your fancy and you may well find yourself dragged into a world you never imagined ,of beauty and wonder. It's one of my very favourite things to do.

Yesterday morning I was been wandering around the world of Paper Bee and their latest album, their second I think. Thaw, Freeze, Thaw. It's truly an enchanted world, Originally out of New England, they now find themselves in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and what they've crafted here is genuinely lovely and genuinely magical.

Think the early Eighties. Cherry Red  and Factory Records, Eyeless In Gaza, Durutti Column, Felt. All being played on late night radio by John Peel. Well, perhaps not Felt. Lawrence was foolishly deeply rude to him and the deeply sensitive Peel never forgave him and rarely played them. Much to their detriment.

This record revisits that world. It's like a walk through the woods at dawn. Dew on the grass, sunlight breaking through the trees, the insect world coming to life. It really captures that whole world so precisely.

The record is immediately incredibly arresting and sustains its rapture. A quite glorious discovery. Wonderfully realised female harmony. Something of a small classic. I always await the discovery of my underground American classic on here every year. Perhaps this is the one for 2023. Words are inadequate to explain how good this record is.

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