Originally published on Panic Dots.

It comes as no surprise that Electric Honey – the label behind the release of French Wives debut album, Dream Of The Inbetween – has also been responsible for releases from Belle & Sebastian and Biffy Clyro – as this is yet another band with a sound that only Scottish based musicians seem capable of creating. I don’t know what it is about it – perhaps it’s the understated strings, the slight lilt to the vocals, or the well-crafted lyrics that serve to paint a picture as opposed to attacking the psyche.

This album is timeless – it could have been created yesterday, or any decade from the 80s onwards. The band have found a sound that merges gorgeous vocals with a multitiered arrangement of melody that are so subtle, each new listen you’ll new phrase of violin, an unheard lick of guitar.

Just when you think you’ve sussed French Wives out, they surprise you with a track like “Sleep Tight”, temporarily kicking the album into overdrive with an energetic and snappy ballad. It’s not a huge departure from the rest of the tracks, but it tweaks the formula just enough to show you that the band are capable of more than just introspective, atmospheric indie-pop (which is in now way a criticism).

The timing of this release couldn’t be better, now that the sun has decided to get it’s act together – this is best listened to outside, preferably somewhere green when you’ve got nothing to do but gaze up at the sky and let yourself go. Dream Of The Inbetween deserves a place on everyone’s iPod this summer.