Albion

Harp is the project of former Midlake frontman Tim Smith and his debut album under the banner rides to a mythical land somewhere between the England of Arthurian legend and the gloomier end of 1980s post-punk. Given it features songs titled “Throne Of Amber” and “Daughters Of Albion,” one might expect some sort of medieval musical dress-up here, but Albion cloaks its ornate prog-folk leanings in something slightly more modern. Smith has cited The Cure’s Faith as a key influence on the record and in its washes of guitar effects and the ethereal, Cocteau Twins-like mists that swirl around the likes of “Country Cathedral Drive,” Smith puts the goth in gothic to wonderfully transportive effect.