Storm Franklin - Loneliness In The Modern World

Naming your collaboration after a recent natural disaster might be an ominous move, but the debut album from Storm Franklin contains some suitably heavy weather. The latest in 2023’s run of established indie types teaming up for pastures new (see also: The Waeve’s Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall), the pairing of former Howling Bells singer-turned-solo artist Juanita Stein and producer Ben Hillier is one that makes a lot of sense. Juanita’s resonant vocal is one that harnesses an enveloping, magnetic femininity, while Ben has specialised in creating evocative atmospheres; unsurprisingly, ‘Loneliness in the Modern World’ is very good at both.

‘Why Do I Have To Choose’ questions gender assumptions (“You’ve got it all / I want it too”) over undulating rhythms and airy pop interludes; opener ‘Hush Now’ rolls in on psych-tinged jangles and dreamy, falsetto vocals; ‘Here Comes The Knife’ takes garage rock simplicity and hand claps and wields them with confidence, while ‘Push The Panic’’s uneasy motif and motorik beat evoke the isolation of the album’s title before bringing a flash of danceable synths to ease the pain. Storm Franklin aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but they’re two connoisseurs of it.