CD Review

Starless & Bible Black bridge both genre gaps and continents with their eponymous debut. The British trio is led by the multi-lingual vocalist Helene Gautier, a French chanteuse who adorns the band’s baroque themes – whether electronic-induced or finger-plucked – with strength and sensibility, and a hide-and-seek approach that is smoky and understated.

This apparent bouquet of contrasts is the sonic essence of Starless & Bible Black, a blissful, down-tempo conundrum that maintains a pastoral presence, even when flirting with light electronica. The band’s dank complexity is often marked by unassuming harmonies and mild abstractionism (“Tredog”), an aspect that is approached with the same plaintiveness as the cross-pollination of acoustic-dramatics and otherworldly siren calls (“B.B.”). Starless & Bible Black is guilty of meandering, oft-unfocused compositions; however, the innate ability to craft multi-layered textures which beg to be unraveled forgives most of these transgressions.

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