Maria Taylor

Alabama-born Maria Taylor was once half of the delicately emotional Azure Ray, has provided vocals for dance-punks The Faint, “original emo”™ Bright Eyes and most of the other Saddle Creek collective. On second album ‘Lynn Teeter Flower’ (it’s the follow-up to 2005’s ‘11:11’), from languid acoustic harmonies to swirling electro beats, Taylor’s attraction lies in her ability to switch herself effortlessly between vastly different styles. ‘The Ballad Of Sean Foley’, featuring none other than Conor Oberst himself, wouldn’t have been out of place on his ‘I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning’ album and is a good appetiser for the new Bright Eyes album, on which Maria plays drums, while ‘Smile And Wave’ and ‘Replay’ are nothing short of sugar-coated Beatles-pop. Based on this album, Taylor looks set to join Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard as queen of his wonderfully melancholy, OC-soundtracking kingdom.

Laura Snapes