Siskiyou – Keep Away The Dead

This second LP from indie-folk band Siskiyou finds a balance between soft reflective folk songs and angst-ridden stomp-alongs. Recorded mostly in the tiny town of Mara, BC in the dead of winter, that desolation finds its way into the music through Colin Huebert's delicate, whispery-quiet vocals.

His voice is often counterbalanced with the mischievous use of instrumentation – whether that be the pounding drumming in the background of the title track, or the flurry of horns in the excellent Twigs and Stones – giving this album a satisfyingly dark and occasionally sadistic twist.

That tension comes to a head on their cover of Neil Young's Revolution Blues, a murder ballad of sorts, but most of the time there's just a beautiful sense of desperation on tracks like Sing Me To Sleep and So Cold, and that's where Siskiyou shine the most. A satisfying, gothic little journey.