This CD turned up a few weeks ago in the post. There was no information at all about it. But after a few minutes, I was quickly hooked, as were my colleagues in the office who all enquired as to what it was I was playing. This has never happened before – we are four people who like generally quite different music. So anyway, it turns out they call themselves Firekites and they’re from Newcastle (in NSW not the UK), a bunch of musicians who have done other things without too much success.

The easiest comparisons I can give you are The Kings of Convenience and The Sea and The Cake. But simply Bowery is a beautiful record, flowing easily between vocal tracks and instrumentals. One of the best Australian albums I have heard in a long time.