Nux Vomica - The Veils
The Veils' debut, The Runaway Found, was not only one of the best debuts of 2004, but one of the best albums. Immediately following its release, however, The Veils apparently lost everyone but frontman Finn Andrews (who is the eccentric son of XTC keyboardist Barry Andrews). Consequently, for the past couple years there has been uncertainty regarding the future of the band - so their new album, Nux Vomica was a pleasant surprise. With a completely new set of bandmates, (including, for the first time, female backing vocalists) Andrews has delivered a fine, more diverse follow up. Less orchestral and generally more guitar driven, Nux Vomica alternates between pounding, energetic songs and lilting, melodic tunes. Andrews' voice is unusual - a bit melodramatic and moany - but it conveys the despairing tone of the lyrics nicely. Calliope! and Advice For Young Mothers To Be are poppy and sweet, with plenty of piano and breathy backing vocals. Under The Folding Branches, with its drawn out strings and reverberating guitar effects, is maybe the best, and saddest, track on the album.

The Crane Wife - The Decemberists
The Crane Wife is the Decemberists' darkest, and best, album yet. This time, Colin Meloy takes lyrical inspiration from an old Japanese fable about a young wife who turns into a bird, and he gets quite a bit of mileage from it. Though, lyrics aside, these songs seem to find Meloy and the Decemberists at their most mature, complex and profound - the one anomaly is a breezy track appropriately titled Summersong. As on their Tain ep, the band experiments with a deliberate prog rock sound on a couple songs including The Island, one of two tracks over ten minutes in length. O Valencia!, the first single from the album, may be the most radio friendly of the bunch, but it's not the best. Standout tracks include the first song of the album, The Crane Wife 3, Shankhill Butchers, and The Crane Wife 1 & 2.