Cat's Eyes

Cat's Eyes Polydor ****

Cat's Eyes Polydor****

You couldn’t make it up. Last December, Faris Badwan, the lead singer of British rock act The Horrors, teamed up with the Canadian soprano Rachel Zeffira, and performed in the Vatican. During mass. As you do.

What sounds like a dream sequence from a David Lynch movie is actually part of the dual creation of one of the year's best records. Clocking in at less than 30 minutes, the eponymous album from this side project drifts by in a shimmer of classic pop and vaporous psych-rock. The songs are brief but underpinned by melody lines as sticky as gum: The Lullis sonic elegance personified; I'm Not Stupidis carried aloft by an arrangement enhanced by strings and woodwind; Not a Friendis equal parts dreadfully sad and deliriously uplifting.

It goes on and on quite beautifully – a side project you really hope will get a second outing.

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See catseyesmusic.com

Download tracks:

The Lull

,

Not a Friend

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture