Freelance Whales: totally street

NEW MUSIC:Wide-eyed and exuberant, Freelance Whales sound like a band who know all about having a hoot. Their debut album, Weathervanes, is one of the freshest collection of songs to come this way in ages, while their live show will have you beaming from cheek to cheek. Stand by – you may be about to meet your favourite new band.

Formed in 2008 after singer Judah Dadone placed an ad on Craigslist, the Whales developed their freewheeling melodies and charming, homespun indie-pop by busking on the streets and in subway stations around New York.

People would stop, watch the band, become caught up in the music and end up missing their train. They were so successful as subway buskers that New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority taped them for its Music Under New York scheme.

All of this exposure on the street meant that when the band got around to playing their first proper show – in an abandoned 19th-century poorhouse on Staten Island – they already had a strong batch of tunes ready to go. From the start, it was also clear that the Whales’ combination of harmonium, banjo, acoustic guitar, cello, glockenspiel and synths was perfect for their breezy, jaunty folky pop.

Weathervanes cements this belief – it’s an album that doesn’t get too hung up on specific sounds or styles and instead produces intoxicating tunes that strike the back of the net every time.

The album has already received a tonne of favourable reviews Stateside, so you can expect similar levels of praise over here once some sussed label jumps on board. 2010: The year of the Whales.

• www.myspace.com/ freelancewhales