Watter – This World

We never really knew Slint. New documentary Breadcrumb Trail goes some way to giving greater context to their brief history, suggesting that drummer Britt Walford may have been the mastermind all along, and its release coincides with the debut album from his first full-time project since 1991.

This World actually resembles the work of his bandmate more closely – Grails’ Zak Riles is audibly all over this record, concocting a beguiling mixture of murk and tension that’s as drawn-out and lusciously immersive. Seawater is the highlight, with sinister synth motifs coiled around a guitar mantra that eventually explodes into a glorious, yearning coda.

Psych? Prog? Post-rock? Whatever. Small Business’ mountainous heaviosity leads unsuspectingly into wordless hymns of pastoral beauty. By the close, we’re transfixed by the fragility of Rachel Grimes’ lyrical dances across the piano; no longer focused on the who, what or why of this music, simply lost to its bountiful charms.