First Listen: Kensington Prairie

The perfect compliment to a cold and rainy day in New England, the debut record from Canada’s Kensington Prairie is one of the finest slices of Dream Pop I’ve heard since The Sundays Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. The heart and soul of the group is Rebecca Rowan (singer/songwriter of Vancouver’s Maplewood Lane) whose voice drifts gently over the lush layers of guitars, mandolins and Rhodes pianos. Simple and emotional the songwriting is first rate with themes of life’s recollections, love, yearning, and lonesomeness. The record opens with the nostalgia of “Time on Our Side” and makes its way through nine thriving tracks fading with the closing track “Dissappear From View” leaving you wanting more.

The full length debut Captured in Still Life will be released April 22^nd. For now check out the lead off single “Crooked Things Straight”. There are a few more tracks available for preview at the group’s official site (including my personal favorite “Letters That I Send”).

Kensington Prairie – Crooked Things Straight (MP3)

Links: Official Site | on MySpace