Emmy the Great – Century of Sleep

This first taster from Virtue, the upcoming second album from Emmy the Great, certainly makes for intriguing listening. Debut full-length First Love proved 2009′s premiere British indie-folk outing, a subtly absorbing mixture of beguiling, lilting instrumentation, eminently likable melodies and impressive lyrical introspection. This, however, is a different matter entirely. Awash with minor-key piano lines, there’s a theatrical air to the melody, and as stabs of choral vocals cut through the haze, it’s evident we’re in entirely uncharted terrain here. Fortunately, it’s also fantastic. Ambitious, experimental and ultimately packing a more serrated edge both musically and lyrically than any of her previous output, this does exactly what it sets out to do: leave us unnaturally excited for what comes next.