Cloth: Secret Measure review – gently addictive guitar pop

Post-rock titans Mogwai have signed several very good albums to their Rock Action label recently: Kathryn Joseph’s superlative for you who are the wronged, the magnificently glum Arab Strap comeback As Days Get Dark, and Strap spin-off Lichen Slow’s debut, Rest Lurks. Now we can luxuriate in Cloth’s latest collection of gentle guitar pop, thanks to Glasgow twins Rachael and Paul Swinton. They began spinning Cloth into gold at college seven years ago, releasing one album and an EP since. “Just keep it simple,” murmurs Rachel during relatively lively lead single Pigeon, and that’s very much the pair’s metier.

Although they’ve added analogue synths and the occasional trumpet, Secret Measure remains broadly similar to the duo’s self-titled 2019 debut. Quietly addictive riffs and clean rhythms bolster the breathy intimacy of Rachael’s voice, usually singing at the strength of a sigh. The xx’s Angels is a good yardstick; these are songs musing on relationships and complicated emotions that appear simple on the surface but open up to reveal smart production touches. Perhaps Money Plant is overlong, but the mournful coda of Ladder more than makes up for it. Yes, it’s a little one-dimensional, but it’s a lovely dimension.