A “husband/wife dream-pop duo from Portland, Oregon”. An instrumental opener called ‘Chasing The Wind Catching The Shadows’. A first line that goes “I lie awake, dreaming of landscapes and the rain” (‘Aviary’). Yeah, I know, there is a hell of a lot of that kind of thing about at the moment, but the simple fact is [a]Mint Julep[/a] are just great at doing it. Songs like ‘Cherry Radio’ and ‘Stay’ are melodically sophisticated, synthetically textured and actually dreamy. It’s unquestionably a beautiful (debut) album, and one that may be well-timed, what with so many folk falling for that College feat Electric Youth tune from Drive, which could easily sit on here.
Hamish MacBain