Stand

100,000 Thousand Ways to Harvest Hope, New World Music, ****

Bearing the hallmark of their lengthy sojourn in New York city, Stand's latest full-length player is full of wide open spaces and an addictive mix of wide-eyed optimism and road-worn pragmatism. Singer Alan Doyle traces vocal arcs reminiscent of Tindersticks' Stuart Staples, but with a careening streak of buoyancy that's Stand's alone. The opening track, Love Will Never Creep In, hints at a hunger for stadium-rock stardom, but dig a little deeper and what you find are copious miniature gemstones, laden with reflection and buffered by deliciously light-fingered arrangements. Stuck In My Shoesand Cap In Handare both small and perfectly formed snapshots of a band supremely comfortable in its own skin. And the title? Borrowed from track two, The Living Kind, it could hardly be more timely, could it? standland.com

Download tracks:Stuck In My Shoes, Nature My Mother