Agnes Obel ProfileCitizen Of Glass mounts its themes early on the intricacies of a litany of heritage instruments.
They may be vintage but the sound is pressingly immediate and the results are sumptuously tense. Harp strings draw themselves out under little tumbles of percussion, the chirrup of woodwind, and the strains of a dying synthesiser, while Obel's gossamer intonations pour themselves over the top. The effect becomes almost an abstraction of worship, an unearthed ghost from some ancient culture, and although the whole procession has a slight whisper-not-a-bang problem, it is hauntingly contemplative and sticks with you like an unbidden mantra.
