I must admit, until a few days back, Boston quartet Quilt were a new name to me, but they certainly enveloped me with their wondrous gem of a new single ‘Eliot St.’ (see what I did there?). You see it possess the sensitive bookishness of early Decemberists cuts, classical folk-pop melodies of The Shins or the Incredible String Band.
Decorated by wonderful orchestration are tip-toeing through by wide-eyed male/female harmonies and Shane Butler’s invested literary couplets: it’s classical, walking the line between psych and folk delicately but it’s infused with a warmth, poeticism and personality to make it stand out from the retro crowd. It’s a welcome tonic as we plunge deep into the winter months.
‘Eliot St.’ is lifted from Quilt’s new album, Plaza, out Feb 26th on the always great Mexican Summer (Ariel Pink, Best Coast, Kurt Vile).
