The Joy of Waiting – Sara Lowes (From Railings Records) reviewed by Dave Franklin

The best music connects with you at a subconscious level. You can analyses, deconstruct and debate the merits of it till the cows come home but real genius is already talking to you on an altogether more subtle level. In fact not just talking, the best music will have knocked on the door of your subconscious holding a bunch of flowers, wined and dined it and will be snuggled up on the sofa with it before your conscious half has even worked up the courage to ask for a phone number. The Joy of Waiting is just such an album.

If I Find You was a brilliant dream-pop teaser of swirling oriental meets occidental sound, it was only half of the story. With the extra elbow room that an album allows, Sara embraces pastoral pop vibes, dreaming sonic spires and richly textured tapestries, prog influences dance through in a very understated way, and kaleidoscopic psychedelia creates a wonderful Summer of Love feeling to the album. So much so that an alternative title could easily be Songs of Love and Haight.

If pop has gained a name for being the annoying little brother of serious music then Sara Lowes is just the type of artist to start re-dressing the balance. For pop this definitely is but it is the touches of late night jazz, washes of West Coast warmth, the tangential breaks, soulful, retro core of the songs and just the sheer creativity injected into every ounce of every song that stand it head and shoulders above its rivals. It may have been four years since Sara’s last album but this was certainly worth the wait.