Add to playlist: the crisp conviction and poetic intrigue of Feeo, and the week's best new tracks

"Over the past three years, vocalist Theodora Laird and bassist Caius Williams have built a committed hub for improvised music at Grain, a residency held at Avalon cafe in south Bermondsey. Inviting experimental music eminences Steve Noble, Elaine Mitchener, Maggie Nicols to play alongside younger generations, Grain nights feature Laird and Williams as the still points of this constantly turning little world."

"Laird has previously recorded with Loraine James, and has played alongside Mica Levi and Tirzah. Her improvised work is concerned primarily with breaking language, then remaking it. That's reflected in Goodness, her full-length debut as Feeo, as a capacity to work with extreme conviction without disrupting the delicate atmospheres around her. On this fairly still and grounded album, every syllable feels cared for, every utterance close and alive in the mix."

"Emerging from a London underground enamoured of submerged, grimy sounds, it feels like gulping clean, crisp air. All manner of horizontally stretched textures blemishing drones, light beats, uneven synth and piano figures, and Williams on guitars, bass and baritone accompany Laird's vocals. Their beauty belies a lyricist of poetic intrigue, of colours and bodies on the intensely simmering single The Mountain, and emotional insight."

Theodora Laird and bassist Caius Williams established Grain, a residency at Avalon cafe in south Bermondsey, fostering improvised music with guests such as Steve Noble, Elaine Mitchener and Maggie Nicols. The duo also perform as Crosspiece, with Laird's serene vocals contrasting Williams's rougher, busier sounds. Laird has recorded with Loraine James and performed with Mica Levi and Tirzah. Goodness, her full-length debut as Feeo, focuses on breaking and remaking language, presenting intimate, carefully placed syllables over horizontally stretched textures: blemishing drones, light beats, uneven synth and piano figures, and Williams on guitars, bass and baritone. Tracks like The Mountain and Here convey poetic imagery and a plea to escape a brutal city.

Read at www.theguardian.com