DAUGHTER

If you haven't heard music from UK band, Daughter, then please pause and take a few minutes to update your iTunes library with their debut album, If You Leave. Providing, what I consider to be, a very pleasurable folk-ambient sound, Daughter is haunting, beautiful, and lyrically driven to say the least. Lead singer Elena Tonra has a voice that evokes emotion so powerfully, and reminds me a lot of Romy from fellow indie darlings, The XX.

If You Leave is a thematic piece, and makes use of both composition and lyrics to make the listener feel so many emotions.  Based around loneliness, numbness, and sadness, the album draws out parts of the human experience that are both painful and unavoidable, and as a listener I found a lot of solace to be drawn from the content of these songs.

Take Smother, for example.  This track is so apologetic and heartbreaking, as Tonra apologizes "I'm sorry if I smothered you", using well-crafted harmonies to give the song a rather ethereal feel.  My favourite track on the album, however, would have to be Human.  This is largely because as an acoustic guitar player, I'm strongly drawn to the purity this instrument can bring to a piece of music.  Unlike the hushed tone of many other songs on this album, the acoustic part of Human is very alive, ironically contrasting the chorus' main line "despite everything, I'm still human- but I think I'm dying here".

In a time of iTunes single downloads, YouTube live performances recorded on iPhones, and social media sharing, Daughter has resurrected the intimacy missing from so many musical endeavours of our time.  Truly a talent, this album is a must-have- good for the ears and the soul.