Beauty is rare in music these days. That is to say – what is mainstream is not beautiful. What is mainstream is Frankenstein pop and crass anti-culture. So, when Ashes was placed delicately inside my inbox, I was delighted to be subjected to some wonderful flourishes upon my first listen. CN Lester’s voice is gently absorbing. There’s almost a case of the tones being ingested via osmosis to the brain. They do not try too hard, which makes the naturalism in the music all the more apparent. … [Read more...]