SPREZZATURA

The Kentish Spires sound to my ears a little tighter on this album than on their debut, though I'm still not entirely sold on their work. They seem to have largely decided to be a jazzy Canterbury-tinged outlet, but they seem to have enough other musical ingredients they want to incorporate into their material (particularly in the folk sphere). Nothing wrong with that - except they don't seem to have yet hit on a way to integrate those elements in a smooth and natural fashion. In addition, whilst Lucie V is clearly a pretty decent vocalist, the band don't seem to be using her to her best effect, failing to play to her strengths. Going outside your comfort zone is a virtue, of course, but this feels a little under-rehearsed in that respect; best to exercise there until you have it down tight before you commit your experiments to record, in my view.