Proteins of Magic: Proteins of Magic (digital outlets)

PoM is New Zealand singer, songwriter and visual artist Kelly Sherrod who studied at Elam in Auckland, was in Punches, played bass in Dimmer (touring at home and in the US), moved to Nashville for a while and now back home should be out promoting this debut album when supporting Dimmer.

But . . .

Although some of those dates have been postponed, this is a hypnotic album of intimate, often piano-based, pop-electronica material wrapped around her strong but ethereal vocals which are loaded with anxieties (“the churches look like cemeteries on the doom-menace of Switchblade), ghostly thoughts and nervous breathing as a percussive effect.

There's an over-riding sense of beautiful, crafted tension here which is very much in line with the blurred edge between innovative alt.pop and contemporary art music . . . and somewhat tellingly the opener is Hopeful Symphony.

Poetry in a musical context and vice-versa.

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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here