Guillemots - 'Through The Windowpane' (Polydor) Released 10/07/06

Craftily disguising themselves as any ordinary band on the orchestral, intriguingly-named first track ‘Little Bear’, the Guillemots creep up and explode into their spectacular, graceful, eccentric full form from track 2 onwards and hi-jack the listener’s attention until the very last breath of their LP. Like most bands that boast members of multiple nationalities, Guillemots manage to create a sound neither wholly here nor wholly there, but somehow it all hangs together beautifully somewhere inbetween the hints of Brazilian samba, childlike Casio keyboards and spectral guitars. Unlike most bands, Guillemots have in Fyfe Dangerfield - a front man and lyricist who could run rings around most of today’s stifled talent.

Going for Damien Rice’s crown with full vigour, his vocals are almost painful in their magnificent range and beyond the striking, soaring sound he produces are the extraordinary, introspective, how-did-he-ever-come-up-with-that lyrics. The possibly perfect ‘Made-up Love Song #43’ touches on human self-deprecation and vulnerability without straying into the archetypal singer-songwriter self-pity that we all hate – “You got me off the paper-round, just sprang out of the air, the best things come from nowhere, I can’t believe you care”. Meanwhile ‘Trains to Brazil’ takes a wistful memory of loss into an upbeat, lively feet-tapping affair complete with fast drumbeat and mock school-bell effect to take you right back to your earliest memory with a kind of fondness.

From echoe-y high-pitched yodelling to random brass band and cymbals, the Guillemots ride the sublime wave without letting themselves become ridiculous. Although this unusual outfit are experimental to say the least, they carry the kind of natural charm that keeps them accessible, and hence the recent TOTP appearance. Though it is certainly Fyfe that provides the backbone, the smoothness of the Guillemots collective sound would not be possible without the haunting backdrop. The male-female harmonising of subtle ‘Redwings’ gives the song its multi-layered edge, and bittersweet title track ‘Through the Windowpane’, is brought alive by a multitude of strings, tinkly percussion, pretty keyboard melodies and angelic, disturbing backing vocals.

As Fyfe himself sings on their current single, “Now there’s poetry…in an empty coke can”, it shows us the Guillemots indeed have the power to make beauty out of practically nothing. No-one could help but walk away from this album feeling as though the most gorgeous person in the world has just made love to them. May we introduce the Guillemots: Utterly bewitching in every possible way.