Shelleyan Orphan: Classic or Dud?

Finally am getting around to hearing this album -- it's really quite lovely sounding, perhaps unsurprisingly, and while there are some headscratching lyrics at plenty of points the whole thing sounds marvellous, an extension of what was before while not simply going over the old ground. Crawley's voice sounds a bit cooler, Tayle's guitar playing and orchestral arrangements complement hear and each other excellently. It's very clearly THEM, for lack of a better word.

Also, it's just damned great to hear Boris Williams drumming on anything again; there's something so perfect he adds to almost every song beyond simply timekeeping.

Ah man. Caroline Crawley has passed:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10207401674545318&id=1390648667

https://twitter.com/chriswhite65/status/783299951409397760

It is with deep sadness that my dearest oldest mate in life & music passed away today after a long illness

Good grief, what horrible news

Man 2016 please just STOP IT.

oh fuck, this is so sad. RIP.

A fine tribute

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1314-the-world-should-remember-caroline-crawleys-voice/

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/shelleyan-orphan
box set coming out at end of the month

Bought this on a whim given the This Mortal Coil and Pentangle connections, sound-unheard. And at least with 'Helleborine' I think I like it a lot. It walks a fine line, that most things trying to tread would fall badly. And they sound weirdly 2000s-2010s to me, which I normally wouldn't care for. . . But I think the weird 'Astral Weeks' + 'Innocence Mission' thing they're doing really works, mostly because the arrangements are so strong. This is a band I could see emo teenagers from any period of indie rockness between the late 90s and today finding and becoming obsessed with. But it's still working for me for some reason. The box set doesn't seem to be setting the world on fire, anyway, but I could totally see some enterprising young hip group I've never heard of covering some of these tracks to acclaim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvwqLEffwA4

Got the box set months ago, never having heard them at all but knowing they were supposed to be my kind of band. But god damn, I listened to Helleborine and it far exceeded my expectations, my socks were knocked off, crashed through the walls and landed in another continent. More than just another good 4AD-ish band, this is genuinely amazing stuff! Only one thread with 33 posts, what is wrong with people?
Final track mesmerized me like nothing I've heard in a long time.

Track order of Helleborine is changed but this isn't even noted on any of the tracklistings in the box. Sleeve notes say the album was sanitized by people above the band and presumably this track order is the un-sanitized version?

Alan Lee did cover art, so that's why they look like ghosts from Lord Of The Rings.

This fucking band!

Century Flower is pretty solid, some really nice songs in there, but can only be a letdown after the sheer brilliance of Helleborine. "Timeblind" is spectacular though.

I have a cassette of Century Flower that I played maybe twice, now sitting in my basement with boxes of tapes. But I'm listening to Helleborine for the first time today, and it's dark and rainy, so it fits that mood, but it also has this "sun dappled meadow" kind of vibe that is really lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bKCAHy578s