Antipody

When is a duo not a duo? When it sounds like a chorus. Okay, as a joke it perhaps doesn’t work, but Good Habits’ latest album certainly does, with dense textures provided by accordion and cello alone, over which Bonnie Schwarz’s clear vocals can ring out. Pete Shaw’s accordion is usually busy, often exhilarating, while the cello oscillates between treacly grooves and punchy staccato, substratum to keep these self-contained stories on track. A number of the songs, ‘I Don’t Know Anymore Than You Do’ and ‘None of Your Business’ in particular, have a Kate Nash/Lily Allen/Regina Spektor feel, led by wheeling vocals and backed by a growing instrumental intensity, best illustrated by the latter’s race to the finish. After a pair of tunes, the original ‘Rubber Bands’ feeding ‘Morning Dew’, the duo deserve a breather, and the penultimate track, ‘Tide Me Over’, showcases Schwarz’s admirable vocal control, accentuated by sparse cello pizzicato. A neat and unexpected surprise is Good Habits’ take on The Stone Roses’ ‘She Bangs the Drums’, the cello making a good fist of that infamous bassline, a reminder of home when COVID-stranded in New Zealand.