Sense of spaciousness

The Phoenix Foundation’s fourth album Buffalo is reviewed by the Guardian’s Dave Simpson who writes that “songwriting this good doesn’t come along often.” Like the xx — whose sense of spaciousness they share — the Wellington six-piece make a little go a long way. Just two notes make up the title track’s instantly memorable intro; the stunning Pot features little but harmonies and handclaps. Sam Flynn Scott’s lyrics — tackling everything from a migrating bird to ‘children on pesticides’ — gently cry out for more attention, but his suggestion of feeling “like a child’s mind trapped in a man’s body” best sums up the simultaneously sad and euphoric feel of an album that already seems destined to be among the best of 211.” Buffalo was nominated for eight Tuis at the 21 New Zealand Music Awards.