Strange Boy
★★★★
Love Remains
GROENLAND. DL/LP
London duo’s uncanny debut, recorded in a neo-gothic crypt.
Some band names are perfect. Kieran Brunt and Matt Huxley are Strange Boy, friends since bonding over Joanna Newsom at Glastonbury; though these enthralling, elegant ballads have no obvious provenance. Take lead single Boston Blue Period: gently percolating synths give way to gorgeously drifting strings and Brunt’s androgynous voice spiralling through the ether. The mood throughout is warm, but shivery too; arrangements are minimal to say the least, including Brunt’s performance. When he occasionally lifts off (eg, the operatic climax to Annunciation), one possible pointer is Billy Mackenzie fronting The Blue Nile, but Strange Boy are stranger, more electronic, and on 100,000 Fireflies scary like Twin Peaks. Lyrics like “Oh the darkness, and oh the toil/The grasping mirror, the fry and boils” (Sofia) suggest an immersive world of their own making.