Erland & The Carnival

Nightingale Full Time Hobby***

Last year this UK/Scottish nu-folk trio released their self- titled debut album, and what a poor show it was – all mouth and no underwear, lots of influences and damn all execution. But the band, which includes Simon Tong, former Verve guitarist and sometime member of The Good, the Bad the Queen, and Orkney islander singer-songwriter Erland Cooper, have upped their creative game with Nightingale. Clearly they've tired of wanting to be the house band for a relaunch party of The Wicker Man,and have instead forged quite a decent sound that references 1960s psych-pop as well as their previous primary influences (Bert Jansch, Pentangle). Sometimes it's a bit messy, but more often than not the balance between good-weird and plain silly is testament to their growth in craft and approach. See erlandandthecarnival.com

Download tracks: Map of an Englishman, Nothing Can Remain