Album Review: Little May - For The Company

In the space of just a few short years, Sydney three-piece Little May have come leaps and bounds into not just the Australian indie-folk scene, but the world's. For The Company sees all that hard work climax in the band's finest moment so far. Their debut LP is an impressive piece of work that seems as effortless the first time you hear it as it does the tenth.

Recalling Clare Bowditch's intelligent and crisp lyrics on opening track Cicadas, and the driven, dark delivery of Sharon Van Etten on Bow & Arrow, Little May make the most of their added advantage: three vocal lines that criss-cross the album. Seven Hours is an example of the unbridled pop they throw into the mix, with beautiful vocal melodies belying the drama of the words they sing.

The National's Aaron Dessner produced the album, and the comparisons between the two bands' sounds is obvious. Listening to The Shine Is Brighter At Night alongside The National's Terrible Love, in fact, could result in a serious case of deja vu. The brooding undercurrents of the track prove a perfect counterpoint to the harmonies —  "Rest my eyes, I don't wanna see you/Rest my brain, I don't wanna know" — that soar above.