A brand new album from Pinky Maclure and John Wills, Curiosity Box finds Pumajaw faithfully replicating the post folk revival fusions of the early '70s with a little help from fellow Brit folkers Alidair Roberts and James Yorkston. While the songwriting and vocal delivery is very much shaped by traditional folk values, the sort of instrumentation Pumajaw utilize defies convention, having more in common with Six Organs Of Admittance than Shirley Collins, something demonstrated ably by the trance-inducing psychedelia of 'Visiting Hour Pt. 2'. The relatively faithful harmonium-driven balladry of 'Mother & The Two Trees' shows that the duo can adhere to old-fashioned values when they want to, although it's not long before the almost inevitable close call with Wicker Man-style wyrdness crops up on 'Buds', which in no small way resembles an electronically enhanced 'Willow's Song'. Curisosity Box has a lot going for it - it's a highly enjoyable and gratifyingly unpredictable alt. folk outing with all the right leanings towards gothic storytelling and pastoral melancholy.
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