Flock

After a series of bold conceptual works, Weaver has decided to cut loose on Flock, which also ditches some of her space-rock otherness for a sound that sidles closer to the dancefloor.

Now she has turned decisively toward accessibility and groove, ensuring Flock is fabulous fun, as well as being always sonically intriguing.

They’ll probably say something like “oh, she went pop for this record” when discussing Flock, a slightly dismissive response ... Avid listeners have known all long just how funky, playful and revolutionary she’s been, a genuine musical magpie.

Flock is the work of a daring artist, a crafty writer and performer, and someone who is always worth following to see what kind of great things she might do in the future.

Recorded over the enforced hibernation period created by lockdown, Flock is anything but a claustrophobic sounding record. If anything, it's an album that releases the shackles and shoots for the stars via the unashamedly microcosmic world of pop.

Flock represents the sweet revenge of the melody: dancefloor-friendly pop music, but of a variety that remains intoxicatingly unmoored to the conventions and codes of the earthly realm.

For all its retro stylings, Flock is a record which is invested in the production of a better future.

Alternating between vibrant pop energy and determined insouciance, Jane Weaver’s new album illuminates and disguises in equal measure, a sign of the outright confidence of its maker.

Having earned a cult audience for her psychedelia, Weaver makes her version of a pop record, where Kylie-level hooks are set against hallucinatory backings.

Songwriter and 'sound carrier' hits stride with psych space-pop and a new direction.

‘Flock’ is Jane Weaver’s most varied, most vigorous album to date.

Writing about herself, albeit obliquely, for the first time in years has lit the desire to uplift the downbeat lyrics with a pop sheen.

In addition to offering a positive vision for negative times, Weaver has great fun making challenging pop music, reflected by the colour and vibrancy of her artwork and aesthetic.

Though Flock tends to make the typical sacrifice of originality for accessibility, Jane Weaver pulls off the synth pop styles she’s going for with swagger, occasionally reaching epic heights.