Decent as they were, the three Violet Indiana albums that Robin Guthrie made with Siobhan De Maré between 2001 and 2004 fell foul of an inevitable comparison. For "Violet Indiana," some read "Cocteau Twins II", and poor De Maré had the toughest of acts to follow in chanteuse extraordinaire, Liz Fraser.

It's perhaps unsurprising, then, that instrumental music has since become Guthrie's chief focus. The architect of countless cathedrals of sound, Guthrie has written scores for films as wildly dissimilar as Gregg Araki's dark drama "Mysterious Skin" and Dany Saadia's romantic comedy "3:19". 2009 has already seen him release two solo EP's and an acclaimed album with John Foxx, Mirrorball.

"Carousel" is classic Guthrie, nothing broken and nothing fixed. His opulent, zero-gravity guitars drift untethered, calling to mind dust motes, time suspended and the graceful, translucent jellyfish that adorn the album's sleeve. "Waiting By The Carousel" has the autumnal hue of the Cocteau Twins circa Victorialand while "Little Big Fish," a rich wash of sound that's tectonic in scale, would sit nicely alongside Riceboy Sleeps the debut album from Sigur Rós's Jónsi Birgisson and partner, Alex Somers.

"The ability to express emotion with some wood, wire and electricity… read more »