Perlee: Speaking from Other Rooms – Woozy, wistful and wonderful

The route from Navan to Berlin has been taken many a time, no doubt, but we’re going to lay our neck on the line by claiming Perlee’s debut album as the best thing to come out of the Co Meath town since God knows when.

Perlee are Cormac O’Keefe and Saramai Leech (sister of Oisín Leech, of the Americana/roots duo The Lost Brothers), and with the sublime Speaking from Other Rooms they have dared to enhance postrock/dream pop with shades and shimmers that you may have thought had long been misplaced.

The devil is in the details: the eight songs here collectively produce a waterproof vessel of contemplative and intense music. Reference points could include My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, bits of Radiohead and elements of a less bludgeoning And So I Watch You from Afar. But the real meat is the tangible connection between Leech and O’Keefe and how their individual creative, instinctual parts coalesce into something that, while solemn in style from start to finish, is never less than uplifting.

Some of the longer tracks (notably Pomegranate) use the trick of slow seduction before they carefully place a plastic bag over your head; other tracks (including The Wave, Slow Motion Impact, Lampshade, Reckoning, Wilder, Bad Night’s Sleep) weave the kind of spells that are virtually impossible to escape from. The result is an unexpected, under-ether thrill ride, equal measures woozy, wistful and wonderful.