Most of what i've read about Cindy seems to focus on the fact that lead singer/songwriter Karina Gill came to music later in life and, as such, makes music that's charming in its innocence and unschooled quality. There's clearly some truth in that - yes, Gill only picked up the guitar a few years ago - but i also think it's a narrative that shadows the real value in the songs that Cindy make. The minimal nature of the ten tracks that comprise 1:2 disguise a very nuanced emotional universe the band are tapping into. Gill's a master of devastating one-liners and at expressing quietly dramatic social interactions, delivered with subtlety but also augmented, crucially, by perfectly conceived instrumentation that never muddies the water. There's nothing in the way here, nothing that hangs around too long (a neat mirror to the tales of fleeting romance that seem to colour most of these songs), no excess which obscures or confuses. Being new to music or an old hand is irrelevant in these moments - you either instinctively know when, or you never know at all. Comparisons have been made to Galaxie 500, Low and Mazzy Star, which are in the same ballpark but not exactly on the money. There's a different kind of near-silent drama at play here, a Cassavettes-like play for the details in between. This current moment in San Fran is extremely potent, but i think 1:2 might be its most realised album to date, a totem of all that creative energy that's there right now, but also creating of its own private universe that's its alone. Can't love it enough.
