Album: London Grammar, If You Wait (Metal & Dust)

London Grammar have spent 18 months preparing to be an overnight success, which care and attention pays dividends on If You Wait.

Hannah Reid’s voice has an austere beauty and aloof eroticism that’s equal parts Lana Del Rey and Julee Cruise. To show it to best advantage, the trio have pared their arrangements – little more than muted guitar motifs and quiet keyboard pads, augmented occasionally by a gently throbbing groove or diffident piano, all beautifully sketched to evoke the crepuscular intimacies of the songs.

Download: Hey Now; Strong; Wasting My Young Years; Metal & Dust; Flickers