Third album for Gulp, a side project to Super Furry Animals set up by Lindsey Leven and Guto Pryce.
“Beneath Strawberry Moons” arrives seven years after the last album “All Good Wishes”, and does not change the directions of the previous chapters much. The union between idyllic lyrics and brilliant and melodically airy instrumental scenarios is expertly balanced, both when the tones are even more crepuscular and clear, as in the captivating dream pop of “Hope Shines Through The Haar”, which makes use of the presence of Andrew Wasylyk (fender rhodes and mellotron), and in the rare moments that refer to the more elaborate psych-folk textures of the parent group: above all the lively “Summer Storm,” with Guto sharing the lead vocalist role with Lindsey for the first time.
The two musicians keep themes and settings that create disturbance or despondency out of their songs, embracing a form of spiritualism where nature is placed at the centre, but however ethereal and impalpable, “Beneath Strawberry Moons” is an autumnal album not without consistency and refinement. The country-western reverb of “Always So Far”, the seductive Goldfrapp-style electronic sounds meets Saint Etienne's “Wildflower” and the evocative “Ultramarine Blue”, a song that seems to come out of a Burt Bacharach album, guarantee sufficient variety to a record that in its apparent indolence offers more than one moment of genuine sonic enchantment.
03/12/2025
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
