Formed from the ashes of Blo-tooth a little over a year ago, Juno Falls are three-piece Myles O’Reilly (vocals, guitar), Dara Difilly (bass) and Dermot Shakespeare (drums). In their relatively short life to date, they’ve already amassed numerous comparisons with Crowded House, which will doubtless be further fuelled by the fact that Starlight Drive was produced by Herbie Macken, whose previous credits include CH main-man Neil Finn. And Herbie has done a superb job: each of the 12 acoustic guitar-driven songs on the album (plus the bonus instrumental at the end) sounds as rich, full and welcoming as an open fire in a good Guinness pub.
‘Serenade’ could be an out-take from Woodface, and I mean that as a compliment. However, to these ears, Myles & Co. are equally inspired by the likes of Turin Brakes (‘Headlights’ is a distant cousin of ‘Underdog’ if ever I heard one) and even Simon & Garfunkel – check out the gorgeous harmonies on the stunning title track.
They do err on the side of hippydom from time to time: ‘Sit For The Show’ and ‘This Song Is Your Own’ sound fine until you read the lyric-sheet and discover such tree-hugging, spliff-loving sentiments as: “Sing it to the earth, the birth of a new day/ Marry marry faith, where you will in this life”.
Much better are the mid-paced ‘Intuition’, whose chorus really does soar skywards; the intimate ‘Closer To My Girl’, where Myles encourages his partner to “Crawl under my skin/Swim into my veins”; or the unashamedly romantic, summery shimmer of ‘Kiss Me’. Then there’s the way that ‘Dream’ seems to wash out of your speakers in waves, the simple piano and vocals of the magnificent ‘Take Me Home’ and the sublime harmonies of ‘Weightless’.
While they’re unlikely to give the likes of Kevin Shields any sleepless nights, Juno Falls have an undoubted talent for crafting intelligent and affecting acoustic pop, with some of the finest harmonies you’re likely to hear this year. All told, this is a hugely impressive debut.