Twenty-year-old Londoner Flo Morrissey’s debut album, produced in LA by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) and Philippe Zdar (Phoenix), is a beautiful confection burgeoning with musical ideas, modulations and textures, and her voice has both the agility of youth and a depth beyond her years. The swooping, acoustic guitar-backed opener Show Me has clear echoes of Kate Bush; elsewhere, Cat Power or Newsom are evoked. The romantic string arrangements on standout tracks such as Betrayed or Wildflower place them somewhere between contemporary folk and 60s pop; the harmonies on Woman of Secret Gold might call to mind Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays to some; the chimes and cello accompaniment on the closing title track leave you wanting more.
