Burgh Island

Much like Slowdive and Mojave 3 frontman Neil Halstead, Ben Howard is a surfing folk singer/songwriter who lives in the English surf capital of Newquay, Cornwall. But where Halstead’s whispery inflections have been compared to Nick Drake\'s, Howard opens his *Burgh Island* singing like an unstrained Conor Oberst over nimble acoustic arpeggios that recall early-\'70s John Martyn. “Esmerelda” sets a tone that’s as dark and foreboding as the cover art, as Howard croons elongated vowels over melancholic minor chords and a background pianist who fills the empty space with deep pulsating notes. The following “Oats in the Water” gets fleshed out with a rhythm section and the sublime warble of an old grinding organ before the song unfolds and rocks out toward the end with howling guitar distortion that fans of Neil Young & Crazy Horse should appreciate. Echoes of early-\'90s shoegazing hover like a thick coastal fog over the beginning of “To Be Alone.” Howard seems most comfortable when singing harmonies over electric guitars, as heard in the eight-minute closer, “Burgh Island.”