Seeing double - Good Habits and Agent Starling

Good Habits are a duo from Manchester - Bonnie Schwarz (vocals/cello) and Pete Shaw (accordion/cajón.) By a quirk of fate, they were touring New Zealand when the pandemic left them stranded in the town of Paekākāriki, so they took advantage of their exile to record their delightful debut album, Going for Broke.

The combination of cello and accordion might sound like an unpromising, insufficient line-up but Shaw's accordion displays a rich variety of styles, an equal partner to Schwarz's cello, while the latter's vocals are engagingly clear and unaffected.

On first hearing Going for Broke I found it an upbeat, pop-folk affair, reminiscent of Fairground Attraction - pleasing enough but not earth-shattering. But these songs take a while to reveal fully their complexity and the sophistication of their lyrics, melodies and arrangements. The duo are musical tricksters, relishing irregular time signatures and a tendency to reprise motifs just when you think the song is over.

After a few more listens I grew to love the emotional warmth and fullness of Good Habits' sound, so I was pleased to hear they’ve recently released a follow-up album, Antipody. One of the highlights of the new collection is a cover of ‘She Bangs the Drum’ (the 1989 hit by fellow Mancunians the Stone Roses.)

As with Going for Broke, Antipody chugs along, melodically and rhythmically hooking the listener from the opening track I Will Still Be Here. Schwarz's vocal blends warmly with the backdrop of her own cello and Shaw’s accordion and, best of all, the duo have retained their sense of playfulness. Now back in the UK, Good Habits are touring a number of venues, including Bristol Folk Festival and Shropshire’s adorable Beardy Folk Festival in June.

Another unusual duo who have recently released their second album are Agent Starling, featuring hurdy-gurdy player Quentin Budworth and Louise Duffy-Howard (aka Lou Loudhailer) on vocals, bass and rhythm tracks. Back in the 1980s, the latter was the bassist with one of my favourite indie bands, Red Guitars (who have recently reformed and are touring again.)

Agent Starling’s debut album European Howl was a complex, immersive and at times disorienting listening experience and their new release, Constellation of Birds, displays more of their mesmerising and highly original sound. There are seven new songs plus two traditional tunes, O’Carolan’s Irish waltz ‘Bridget Cruise’ (which is given an oddly Japanese flavour) and a version of Swedish polska ‘Hälleforsnäsar’ embedded inside a track called ‘Scandiland’ which begins like the incidental music to a Scandi-noir thriller. As with the first album, Constellation of Birds features the violin and cello of special guest Dexter Duffy-Howard.

With tracks like ‘Paqaratz’ and ‘The Stonemason’s Dream,’ Constellation of Birds is an album that firmly establishes Agent Starling as incomparable purveyors of a unique, edgy, off-kilter soundtrack to modern life.