Cheek Mountain Thief: Cheek Mountain Thief – review

Born of the decision to go and live in the isolated town of Húsavík on the north coast of Iceland, Tunng frontman Mike Lindsay's solo album draws on different sources from the folktronica group's default palette, using local musicians, and whatever was available instrument-wise, before a final polish in Reykjavik from Icelandic experimentalist group múm's Gunni Tynes. The disparate elements combine to create a folky feeling of warmth, pastoral isolation and otherness, while the vocals, largely male, nearly all in unison, immediately recall the Beta Band (though there is a brief bit of Icelandic on the second number, Showdown, which makes you think they may have let the Sugarcubes' Einar out for the day). At times I'm also reminded of that other island man Colin MacIntyre aka Mull Historial Society. Pretty string arrangements vie with acoustic guitar, xylophone and marimba throughout, Attack has almost jazzy clattering drums, glitches and percussion while, fittingly perhaps, the brass section on Strain brings to mind Paul Giovanni's soundtrack to The Wicker Man .