Curiosity Box

(FIRE)

Having been working together since the late 90s ex-Loop drummer John Wills and singer Pinkie Maclure now release their second album under the Pumajaw name.

Briefly linked to Fife's Fence collective, the duo maintain that queasy eeriness that King Creosote etc found so beguiling, yet have none of the playfulness. This is dark stuff indeed. From the opening 'Visiting Hour Pt 1' the album builds slowly and quietly across wintry fields of both traditional ('The Burning Of Auchindoun', 'Lang, Lang a'Growin'', 'Lambkin') and original song.

Maclure sometimes teeters on the brink of Kate Bush-like goth hysteria, fortunately never becoming too theatrical. Elsewhere, Alasdair Roberts helps keep it real, out of the castle and at home in the dank, rain-sodden but-and-ben. But it's the inventive use of autoharp, bells and loops, by both musicians – especially on the bright 'Buds' – that achieve the atmospheric conditions that make this album what it is.