Whitney put into sound how a warm embrace or a lazy Sunday afternoon feels. In fact, it was a Sunday afternoon, travelling in a slightly humid mini-van through Jurassic, jungly terrain to Khao Lak, Thailand, when I put pen to paper about the group’s latest album, ‘Small Talk’. There’s no pulling teeth to endure on this record; they should’ve titled it ‘Long, Joyful Conversation’. It’s 11 stellar songs traversed in just over 30 minutes, which you’ll be left wanting to return to. Just as I have. 

Strings, keys and brass all culminate in genteel ‘60s/‘70s vibes, to give the band their polished, soft, indie-folk distillation. That’s very much the MO of tunes such as ‘The Thread’ (with its bold instrumental chorus), ‘Islands (Really Something)’, the title track ‘Small Talk’, ‘Darling’ and ‘Back to the Wind’. But you unlock some understated, shoegazy solos, too. 

Meanwhile, delicate compositions of a mix of instruments pepper ‘Silent Exchange’, the opener, with a big-band style. What follows is ‘Won’t You Speak Your Mind’, a song so sweet you could have it for dessert. It’s uptempo, sunshiney stuff, and it’s quintessentially Whitney. My favourite of the bunch? Quite plausibly.

‘Damage’ would be worthy of a complementing crackle from placing the needle on the vinyl — and a steaming mug of tea to go with it. The same could probably be said of ‘Dandelion’, though it’s the country-esque twangs that bring out a different side to Whitney there. Not that I’m a country fan! 

Further flecks of differences come in the forms of the steely string strums of ‘In the Saddle’. You’ll instantly detect it’s another must-listen they’ve added to their arsenal, and it’s very them. When Madison Cunningham joins them on ‘Evangeline’, you get a piece that’s perhaps the most suited to Bon Iver fans of the lot. 

Steady, dreamy, wistful? A round of applause to Whitney before the year’s done.

If you only download one track, let it be: ‘Won’t You Speak Your Mind’