Ceremony (LP)

A rare blend of eloquent lyrical craft and explorative musicianship, the songs of Tiny Ruins are etched into the memories of crowds and critics worldwide. Traversing influences that cross genre and era, the artistry of Hollie Fullbrook and her band spans delicate folk, lustrous dream pop and ebullient psychedelia. Building on the sparse arrangements and a novelist's eye for detail cultivated over the past several years, the group's greatly anticipated fourth album is out on April 28th.

If Olympic Girls was an album suffused with existential emptiness, portraits often sketched from afar or in empty buildings, Ceremony zooms right in, unafraid of intimacy and connection. It feels comfortable and generous, it speaks of openness and tenderness, the appreciation of others. Now over a decade in, Hollie Fullbrook's evolution as Tiny Ruins has reached an apex of power, as she's become a deft bandleader of incredible musicians. Ceremony has many moods, ranging from intense minimalist 'Diving & Soaring' that evokes a classic folk vibe through to the heavier Neil Young-inspired 'Dorothy Bay', boppy danceable 'In Light of Everything', and the hooky, uplifting 'Dogs Dreaming'. Noodly 70s electric guitars, eclectic percussion and prominent bass make it their most listenable and accessible album to date. The songs are all of a theme - exploring the coastal shores of the Manukau Harbour and working through a psychological 'shellscape', while tending toward a joyful / hopeful take on the passing of time. Ceremony is the band's highest achievement, an album about confronting confusion, loss, dislocation and ultimately realising the beauty of life's unpredictable paths.