Maria Somerville – Luster – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Maria Somerville is a musician from Galway, and for her second album, she has signed to 4AD and conjured up an album of billowing yet tranquil loveliness.

It opens with the ghostly, wordless Réalt, which is simply there to set the mood.  Projections will call to mind all the classic 4AD-era groups, and it’s hard to avoid mentioning the Cocteau Twins.  Somerville is channelling their sound, rather than slavishly copying it, and the track gives all the appearance of possibly going somewhere but then blissfully deciding against it.  If a fogged-up mirror in the bathroom has a sound, this is it.

Garden opens on a strong, Cure-like bassline and a steady beat, providing a luxurious aural bed for Somerville to sing over.  The brief Corrib glides by effortlessly, leading into Halo, another gorgeous, spectral drift where, again, not a lot happens.

Spring is a little more upbeat, and the metronomic Stonefly will have you nodding along without realising it.  The formless Flutter and the winsome strumming of Trip will provide ammunition for those unmoved by this sort of thing.  But the album is a thing of beauty.  Violet conjures up sunny evenings, while Up is not exactly defined by its title, it’s another lovely, echoey drift, leading nicely to the final track, October Moon, a track that dials up the zen atmosphere.

This album does everything the likes of Clinic Stars and Midwife did last year.  It’s a dreamy, spaced-out delight, marking Maria Somerville out as one to watch.

Projections