From A(dele) to Z(ola Jesus), female singer-songwriters - or indeed often merely singers - are very much in vogue contemporarily, however few have a voice as capable of redirecting one's train of thought as Torontonian Cold Specks. The enigmatic 23-year-old, now based in London, is the second act to see a debut single released on Transgressive offshoot, paradYse records, and arrives at a time when the blogosphere is still clearing up after the brouhaha incurred by Theme Park's double A-side. Old Stepstone, the B-side to the release, is an almost baptismal a cappella number as fitting for a jaunt down to the river to pray as it is for online consumption, however it's the flipside that truly spellbinds. What sounds like Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven run through Jeff Buckley's Vibroverb swiftly subsides to leave a lulling acoustic residue and an enchanting voice, like seafoam left to dry on sun-kissed shoreline, before a late resurgence that crashes like a tumultuous comber crushes any apathy. She croons of finding God in the gutter; Cold Specks can afford to aim a fair sight higher. Holland by Cold Specks
A vinyl run of Holland/Old Stepstone limited to 250 is released on paradYse records on October 17th, and she creeps out from beneath a cloak of ambiguity the very same day to celebrate its release at the breathtaking St. Pancras Old Church. Purchase: vinyl/tickets.
