British singer-songwriter Fred Spence (The Surely Knots) and debuting Danish artist Karoline Soon have settled in Paris, where they make music together as The Tambourines. The nine original songs on their first, self-titled full-length are a whimsical mix of neo-psych, garage pop, alt-country and shoegaze, inspired by Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound, but quite lo-fi and unpolished. When asked, Spence explains: “The entire album was recorded in our apartment with a Zoom microphone. It was a project recorded, produced, and released rather quickly for today’s standards, and I think this is some of the reason behind its particular energy, as we sought to capture a particular moment in our lives.”

It makes for a delightfully intuitive love letter to the essentials of rock ‘n’ roll (jangly guitars, melodic percussion, and a lovely dynamic between male and female vocals), a compelling listening experience filled with surprising hooks and riveting lyrics (listen to High Fashion and you can picture the scene). It is pure and passionate, at times even theatrical, and highly appealing in its raw charm and unbridled creativity.

The Tambourines’ eponymous debuut LP is out digitally (self-produced and self-released).

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