Ex-Virgin Suicides duo Dickon and Tom have been performing acoustically for a fair while now, putting in appearances as a stripped-down version of their old band and doing covers for various REPEA*T benefit nights. They’ve now taken that to the next logical level by emerging as a project/artist in their own right, and this three-track EP is their first recorded offering. Showcasing Dickon’s voice in a far more tuneful context, thus actually allowing the listener to hear exactly how good it is, it’s mainly a guitar thing but also features the odd bit of – very effective – piano.

As one might expect from ex-VS personnel, The Horse and His Boy come with a manifesto/explanation. However, this is far from the strident, politicised VS dogma; instead the theme here is change, loss and a sense of being stuck in the past. They're themes which make perfect sense in this emotive acoustic context, and which also mark a switch in the nature of that context from an inseparable aspect of appreciating the music to something which compliments the sound without overpowering it. Those who like delicate yet powerful acoustic noise are very likely to enjoy this – and those who want an idea behind the noise will also find something to get their teeth into here.