Marielle V Jakobsons – Star Core

Less an album, more a masterclass in sonic sculpture, Star Core is a beautifully sparse affair. Evocative, meditative and fluid, its exploitation of drone translates into a web of subtlety, each of the six pieces focusing on strings or woodwind or vox behind tangles of repeated motifs and a gliding, fretless bass – eerily reminiscent of Lazer Guided Melodies-era Spiritualized.  

A classically-trained musician, sound designer and artist, Jakobsons knows the value of touch – and to that extent, this is a record that’s all about feel. It’s in the diffused vocal of White Sparks ('Seep in the sun, lay one more day / Rise to the moon, weave a new way'). The oriental violin of the title track. The mordent flute underpinning The Beginning is the End. And everywhere: patterns. Patterns to get lost in. Synths at their most reflective, their most botanical. When Star Core isn’t summoning goose bumps, it's busy tingling spines.