LAURA GROVES Vinyl & CDs

Review: West Yorkshire's intriguing vocal and synth talent Laura Groves teams up with Open Space following her excellent album last year and lures us in deep once more. This time she's on the classy Test Pressing Recordings with a pair of beautifully tender and spare singles. 'Tied' has her delicate and icy vocals drifting up top over minimal synth lines and barely-there rhythms for a spine-tingling lullaby that also comes as an instrumental. On the flip is 'Control' which has another angelic vocal, this time in amongst swirling and heavenly pads that act like a perfect catharsis to busy modern life.

Review: It has been 14 long years in the making, but Laura Groves has finally made the triumphant return we all hoped she might, one day. Unfamiliar? No worries - a quick step back in time might bring the memories flooding back... albeit from her old moniker, Blue Roses. Barely into her 20s, the sole, self-titled album released under that name via XL Recordings was a captivating example of young singer-songwriter romanticism, simultaneously capable of making us feel elated and utterly distraught. Groves' voice is what really stood out, not that the beautiful, often dream-like arrangements weren't also incredible. Thankfully, those vocals are back again here, and arguably in even finer form. Radio Red, the artist's first outing under her own name, is a lush, deep dive into crystalline pop, rarely breaking sweat in tempo terms, and instead inviting us into a fantasy world with shades of folk, soul, and synth audible in the intoxicating mix.