Season of the Sparks

As it's emotive title may suggest, Adrian Crowley's fifth album is one of bristling, tactile atmospheres. It represents a point, after ten years of recording music, where his words, his music and the influence of his collaborators all meet in a perfect, joyous place.

Crowley's craft is cohesive: a collection with a beginning, middle and an end. More than just a writer of songs, he etches out journeys, where each character, story or incident within his songs feels like a stepping-stone to the next character, story or incident. Season of the Sparks is like the best type of short story book, w here each tale seems magically connected to the rest. Maybe it's the striking sense of incandescence that unites all these particular stories/songs. Moving away from the sea/water themed imagery of his previous record, Season of the Sparks is flush with Arcadian detail; birds and bees, lush vines, honeycombs, kindling, and dreaming horses.