★★★★½

When they can excite someone like The National’s Aaron Dessner enough for him to have insisted on assuming production duties, you can assume that Little May’s debut albumFor The Companywill be a good listen.

From beginning to end, the Sydney trio sweep you away with their delicate vocals, dark yet graceful lyrics, and a sound of subtle power and energy.

Album opener ‘Cicadas’ is a fluttering and excited introduction, the musical equivalent of butterflies in your tummy. The flow and pacing trickles into a stream and you’re lost in the album before you even realise it. Songs like ‘Sold’, ‘Oh My My’ and ‘Seven Hours’ continue the effect, and all feel as though Little May are tapping into an incredible pool of potential but are sharing just a small taste.

The only issue with the album comes from songs like ‘Home’ and ‘Chemicals’, which, while they’re fine songs in their own right, feel a little too contrived and self-conscious in comparison with the rest. But while those tracks can pull you out of the daze, it doesn’t detract from the album overall; instead, it makes you crave even more of the magic and imagination that you do get lost in.

And if the only criticism for an album is really a request for more, it’s hard not to imagine even greater things from Little May.

Little May’sFor The Companyis out now on Dew Process/Universal.

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