When this writer discovered Manchester's SNOWBLIND were an acoustic-based duo comprising Paul Williams (guitars/ keyboards) and Jane Murphy (vocals), he falsely assumed that they'd be a duo in the folk/trip-hop vein of, say, IT'S JO & DANNY.
Debut album "The Falls," though, proves this theory to be a thousand miles wide of the mark. Indeed, "The Falls" takes its' cue from '80s Brit(pop) signposts like AZTEC CAMERA or THE PALE FOUNTAINS and throws open the gates to lush, winsome pop meadows decorated with orchestral greenery.
And, yeah, sometimes the scenery is breathtaking alright. "The Falls" opens with the impressive (forthcoming) single "Easy Girl." A breezy serenade chock full with freshly-scrubbed acoustic guitars and starring Jane Murphy's breathy vocals, it swings into a full-blown chorus with call and response lines and is genuinely a contender. "Slowly" follows: another memorable earful of FM radio pop with a glorious trumpet solo and some sly wit from Murphy. I especially enjoyed the acerbic lyric: "You were too busy pulling the birds two by two."
More of this and "The Falls" could have been a truly spectacular album, but -despite Murphy's pristine vocals - a glut of songs forming the record's heart are far too sleek and saccharine for this writer to swallow. "Country" is pretty but ultimately too sentimental and while some nice Andy Diagram-style trumpet blasts cut a swathe through "Wish", that horrible, cod-funk guitar just screams 1985. Not a period we want to return to, surely?
This writer was becoming quite downcast after "Summer In The Sun", "Remain The Same" and "Cut" failed to deviate from such a format - except for "Summer In The Sun"s ill-advised (and mercifully brief) electro-pop diversion - and was beginning to fear for the album's final third.
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Consequently, it was great to find "Haven't Got A Clue" belying its' title with a superb orchestral intro giving way to a slow-burning pop treat capped by Nurphy's sultriest vocal to date and some deep, Spector-ish interludes filled by kettle drum beats, tinkly marimbas and - eventually - a huge flourish of strings. Swoon.
"Message For Glo" then ups the ante again. Dying to accompany visuals it floats in on FX of footsteps and falling rain, before drifting into a strident piano melody and a classy pop song replete with angelic vocal choirs, tolling bells and an urgent Murphy vocal. Tense and affecting, it's all over too quickly, although it soon segues into the rippling, irresistible "I'll Be There" - a further single, surely.
The closing "Fistful Of Dollars" meantime, comes across more like insistent, mid-period Smiths than anything reminiscent of Ennio Morricone/ Sergio Leone soundtracks, but like The Man With No Name's mule, it ain't nothin' to laugh at, either and supplies a robust, slightly melancholic and convincing full stop for an album that promises much and sporadically delivers emphatically.
"I don't think they'll pull through, 'cos they haven't got a clue," coos Jane Murphy at one point. Well, she's surely not referring to SNOWBLIND, because while this debut is only partly realised, if they can drop some of the gauche '80s touches, then we will have to tune in whether we like it or not.
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