The Arctic Flow - Luminous Veil - 10

Labels: Oscarson
Review by: Andy Malcolm

Lovely band name there, that’s definitely something that works for shallow old me. Good artwork, a nice band name, sounding like the Promise Ring, you name it, there are literally three ways to get me interested in your band. The Arctic Flow sound like any number of dream pop bands that were on Captured Tracks 5 or 6 years ago. It’s distant 80’s indie pop, shimmering away delightfully, snappy and clipped, a perfectly judged and observed sound – they know what they’re aiming for and they pull it off with plenty of aplomb. Of course, I was about 10 when the Cure and whoever else was doing this sort of thing in the 80s so my reference points are mostly just Wild Nothing or Craft Spells rather than anything that someone with good taste in music might note here.

Scrolling down on Spotify I discovered that they have a release where the cover is a bunch of carriages in a snowy railway yard, so I have decided this band is definitely good. Anyway, this is another really solid release from Oscarson, a label which seems to be pretty much in step with my own tastes. Good work, everyone concerned.