River Said: Vinyl LP

Label: Disciples
Release Date: 28th April

Like hanging out by a babbling brook, the gentle trickle of a stream, the sun's at the perfect brightness, the blues are deep, the grass green and dotted with wildflowers, you pour a hot coffee from a stove top, you turn to your companion 'this is nice' and take a hearty drink. That's this album which is a sweet folk record but also a field recording and ambient piece. This is nice.

The new album by Maxine Funke divides into two halves - the first side a perfect suite of the kind of beautifully constructed songs that the New Zealand based artist has become known for, acutely observed vignettes framing her voice with a minimal backing of guitar and organ. The second side takes off on a different flight entirely: two dreamy long-form pieces built on a framework of cello, field recordings and delay.