Album: Joy Zipper

The Heartlight Set, MERCURY

Now finally up to speed following the delays and cancellations that have hampered their career so far, Vinny Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale deliver what may be the strongest Joy Zipper album so far in The Heartlight Set. Borne lightly on beds of acoustic guitar, swathed in swirling mellotron, and laced with the most discreet of psychedelic guitar textures, the duo's feathery harmonies sound like a cross between Sixties soft-rock balladeers such as The Association and The Sandpipers, and the softer end of Eighties indie exemplified by Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500 - a sophisticated sonic blend captured in soft-focus pastel tones. Several tracks - "Window", "2 Dreams I Had" and "1" - are more refined, relaxed versions of songs that originally appeared on 2003's The Stereo And God; accompanying them are equally infectious songs about things like Lenny Bruce's dissolute lifestyle ("For Lenny's Own Pleasure") and proxy attraction ("Anything You Sent"). Best of all is Cafiso's paean to instinct "Thoughts A Waste O

Now finally up to speed following the delays and cancellations that have hampered their career so far, Vinny Cafiso and Tabitha Tindale deliver what may be the strongest Joy Zipper album so far in The Heartlight Set. Borne lightly on beds of acoustic guitar, swathed in swirling mellotron, and laced with the most discreet of psychedelic guitar textures, the duo's feathery harmonies sound like a cross between Sixties soft-rock balladeers such as The Association and The Sandpipers, and the softer end of Eighties indie exemplified by Mazzy Star and Galaxie 500 - a sophisticated sonic blend captured in soft-focus pastel tones. Several tracks - "Window", "2 Dreams I Had" and "1" - are more refined, relaxed versions of songs that originally appeared on 2003's The Stereo And God; accompanying them are equally infectious songs about things like Lenny Bruce's dissolute lifestyle ("For Lenny's Own Pleasure") and proxy attraction ("Anything You Sent"). Best of all is Cafiso's paean to instinct "Thoughts A Waste Of Time", which finds the singer lured into involuntary mentation. "Put it next to my heart when I didn't know what it was," he muses, baffled. "Now I'm thinking all the time." That's the way it is with thought: just when you think you've got it licked, you catch yourself thinking you've got it licked.