VivaSync

Stealing Sheep's debut album is a delightful bag of pick'n'mix. You can hear the twang of a Velvet Underground guitar here, a buzz of Ladytron synth there, often atop their fondness for creepy Wicker Man vocal harmonies. Yet the Liverpool trio of Becky Hawley, Emily Lansley and Lucy Mercer have made a debut album that never feels incoherent, or as though it's reciting influences out loud for credibility. If anything, the psychedelic influences and lo-fi aesthetic position this record outside current trends. You can catch them doing what they do best on Rearrange, which starts off like a perky Britpop number before breaking out into a blissed-out refrain. Everything is thrown in here, including the kitchen sink, which they're quite possibly using as a makeshift glockenspiel. Yet what grabs you are the deft tricks played within the vocal harmonies and the restrained use of electronics. For all Stealing Sheep's maverick influences, it's the small details that stand out on this beguiling debut.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKWlqLake5FpaGtnkaq0cHyYaKqtnZGhtq%2BzjKyfnp2gYrGqrcyopZ1lo6q7br7Er6Cerw%3D%3D