The Proper Ornaments

Foxhole

The sophomore collaboration between James Hoare (Ultimate Painting, Veronica Falls) and Max Oscarnold (Toy, Pink Flames) finds the London band embracing a more laid-back sound. Credit this to gentler stretches of life coinciding with a mutual newfound interest in the piano, as well as the serendipitous mechanical error that forced them to scrap initial studio recordings and retreat to an 8-track recorder in Hoare's bedroom. The resulting LP—out on the venerable Slumberland Records—feels conversational in tone, nodding back to the pop songwriting of the '60s with "refined process and resigned melancholy," says The Quietus.