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Three years after a bewitching support slot for Bon Iver highlighted her prodigious talent, Beth Jeans Houghton has finally arrived. A bafflingly-titled debut album showcases her self-dubbed ‘marching to war’ sound and is a smash-and-grab of ideas and expressionism. Indeed, Houghton’s songs are punctuated with neat side-steps and intriguing vignettes. The sumptuous ‘Dodecahedron’ begins as a confessional ballad before igniting into a quasi-gospel shanty, while the glorious lead single ‘Liliputt’ highlights Beth’s stellar soprano amid a galloping rush of fiddles and brass. Old songs sit neatly with the new; debut single ‘Night Swimmer’ (her ode to an ex-boyfriend’s nocturnal sweats) is an otherworldly lullaby while ‘Atlas’ is spiky indie-pop with BJH reflecting that “red wine and whiskey are no good for me”. “Yours Truly, Cellophane Nose” is a triumph of Houghton’s fierce desire to retain control of all facets of her artistic output, and the work of a genuinely unique talent. John Freeman
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KEY TRACKS: ‘DODECAHEDRON’, ‘ATLAS’, ‘NIGHT SWIMMER’.
FOR FANS OF: TORI AMOS, EMMY THE GREAT, JESCA HOOP.
