Falling Off Maps – A Seaside Town in Winter

Debut albums can be statements of intent, an opportunity for artists to define themselves to an impressionable public. Nottingham indie quintet Falling Off Maps do just that with A Seaside Town in Winter, a frosty, reflective walk on the beach, full of measured beats and thoughtful lyrics. The vignette is clear and vivid, but with cold, wet sand crunching underfoot, is it contrived?

The record does, occasionally, feel derivative, with too many pining acoustic yarns and feel-good anthemic choruses. The autumnal melancholy might be nearing Death Cab for Cutie’s Plans, but tight snares and Dave Wright’s wiry falsetto are more Thom Yorke than Ben Gibbard (Honest and All My Fears could almost be In Rainbows b-sides). It’s a far cry from their Goo Goo Dolls-flavoured pop rock as Headway (this band’s first incarnation in the early 00s), and a polished LP overall, but too obvious where it could have been challenging. [George Sully]