“One of those magical words that sometimes manages to capture the reader’s attention is underestimated. I find it actually difficult to call Chloë March with the term underrated, because in this case we are faced with a real neglect by critics and the public, despite the Fact that the English artist has just crossed the threshold of the fifth album (the penultimate “Amialluma” was shared with Todd Tobias). Perhaps I should not be surprised at the lack of attention paid to her so far, considering the guidelines of the music of the London singer-songwriter, more inclined to that imperceptible Hugo Largo-style rock, where the role of percussion and guitars is at least accidental.
Chloë March’s evanescent and refined chamber-pop wouldn’t go unnoticed if it were published on behalf of more celebrated artists (for example, Kate Bush or David Sylvian). There is an extreme vulnerability in these eleven creations that cannot be fully appreciated without attention and patience being devoted to it.
Let’s be clear that “Starlings & Crows” isn’t a difficult or pretentious album, voice whiteness and harmonies with fall and dreamlike tones are an easy language to understand and interpret. Diafane (the title track),moderately synthetic (the charming “Turn Fox Then”), rarely throbbing (the piano intonation in “All Things Good”), melodically fragile (the symphonic synth-folk of “Neon Emerald Sequin”), slightly retro (waltz time in “To A Place”), concise (the sumptuous “Remember That Sky” and the romantic “Chroma Bather”) or evanescent (“High Hay”), Chloë March’s chamber-folk and dream-pop creations are kissed by unusual beauty.
“Starlings & Crows” is a record with delicate and penetrating fragrances, almost an aroma-therapy entrusted to the seven notes. There is no shortage of literary references (“Alice in Wonderland” in “Looking Glass Lawn”), or historical (the moon landing in “Landing 1969″), but the predominant element is the extreme attention to detail of the arrangements, an element that, combined with the depth and emotional intensity of the author’s refined and never cloying vocal mastery, confirms Chloë March as one of the heirs of the magic of Kate Bush and the less well-known Heidi Berry and Virginia Astley.”
– Ondarock