Turin Brakes

The Optimist LP appeared in 2001 through Source, following earlier releases that had already established an audience. Underdog (Save Me), Feeling Oblivion and Mind over Money provided different views of the writing, from rhythmic urgency to a more suspended atmosphere. The debut was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, bringing wider attention to a sound built from relatively exposed parts.

The guitars were not simply a soft backdrop for the singing. A repeated figure could establish tension, a second line could answer it and a change in attack could alter the feeling without changing the instrumentation. Knights' voice gave the songs a recognisable melodic centre, while Paridjanian's playing helped make the arrangements feel like a continuing exchange.

Ether Song followed in 2003, including Pain Killer (Summer Rain), Long Distance and Average Man. The fuller production made the music's rhythmic and rock-facing possibilities more explicit, with Pain Killer carrying the project to a particularly large audience. JackInABox in 2005 continued to develop that wider instrumental setting.

Rob Allum and Eddie Myer became long-term parts of the working band, helping the project grow beyond its original duo presentation. Later records continued to vary the sound without losing the sense of two principal musical imaginations answering one another. The early acoustic detail remains a useful way into the catalogue, but the enduring attraction is the interaction itself, which can survive a much larger arrangement around it.