La Nouvelle Musique

Is this music as innovative as the band's name suggests? Probably not. A very good 2-voice folk that takes you to the heights ("The Mirror") or that pushes you to repeat the choruses at the top of your lungs ("Catalonia").
If this London couple chose this name, it was on a misunderstanding. A radio programmer thought it was the band's name when he played one of their old songs named after it, which chants – in French! – “Écoutez la nouvelle musique” (Listen to the new music). Maybe to encourage us not to stay glued to our old stuff. Advice that I totally approve.

You will find a large number of beautiful ballads there. First and foremost the magnificent and epic "Ballad of a Broken Wing". Its resemblance to the universe of Belle and Sebastian made it immediately familiar to me.

An ethereal singing, with a voice sometimes doubled, but no ternary piece.
It's close to the style of Cocteau Twins, Lush or Dead Can Dance.

I prefer it when Joanna sings, even if Ian gets away with it very honorably ("Forest Fire"), somewhere between Johnny Cash and David Bowie (make do with that!)

Poetic, the lyrics evoke journeys that are more introspective or dreamlike than adventurous, the perception of the passing of time or the search for adulterated emotions ("New Blood").

Like jewellery cases custom-designed for each song, the delicate arrangements give pride of place to acoustic guitar picking or piano arpeggios, often with the addition of strings. Audacity is rarer (the "Spirit Level" beeps): that's not the goal. Priority is given to songwriting and the sobriety of artistic production. What if this was the new music?