John Freeman

‘II’ displays both a glowing warmth in its production and a deft use of space that illuminate Nielson’s superbly-crafted compositions.

A particularly snarky critic may suggest pruning a couple of the thirteen tracks, but feels churlish to nitpick an album fuelled by the prettiest of ambition. On this showing, Everything Everything’s career arc is set for the stratosphere.

The Canadian boy-girl duo’s debut is a whirl of delicate dream pop, fuelled by Corin Roddick’s chopped hip-hop beats and Megan James’ coquettish vocal stylings.

An album of huge promise rather than an instant classic.

The sound of bliss.

While opener ‘Youth Knows No Pain’ and the feisty single ‘Get Some’ both display Li’s ‘don’t-fuck-with-me’ sassiness, ‘Wounded Rhymes’ really takes off when she allows her vulnerability to leak.

Freed from self-imposed musical constraints, ‘Field Music (Measure)’ is big, bold and beautiful.

‘Lungs’ is rammed with silky soul, spiky ballads, raw blues and unashamedly big pop songs, all spiced with the singer’s trademark gothic humour and breath-stealing baritone.