The Dial Waltz

Boa Morte are really good. Simple ‘word pictures’ are accompanied by gentle close harmonies. Meanwhile, a drummer pats out a loose, tom-friendly, guiding rhythm, cellos and brass come and go, generally on the low and middle frequencies. It feels live and intimate.
I suppose in general terms it’s in the same territory as Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Smog, or Adrian Crowley – gentle modern folk music made for the iPod age. Unlike the inclusive folk music of the past, this feels like someone talking to isolated listeners in other spaces and times about emotional events somewhere else. And theoretically a band like Boa Morte could reach out with music like this and reach and galvanise an international tribe of its own. Because it is, really, a very, very fine record.