On second album Mammoth, Flora Hibberd is more expansive but not yet exhilarating

Evocative and spacious metaphors were strewn across last year's debut full-length Swirl, which sketched an arc of connection and overcoming obstacles working to resist it. But as poetic as Hibberd's words can be, the songs only rarely let her writing emphatically leap off the page. Paired with softly lined indie-folk and light-touch Americana, with melodies that were often underwhelming, more spark in the music would have gone a long way. A year later, Mammoth seems more willing to lock that spark in. Bringing in Ben Lanz (The National, Beirut) on production has certainly uplifted the arrangements, bringing new life to Hibberd's familiar folk side and new heft in the energised synth-pop excursions that she ventures into. Lead single “Mammoth” is perhaps the most exciting presentation of the latter, in which the galloping rhythms match her dynamic writing. “Why flee the feeling? / Does she not give her love?” she contemplates, with shuffling grooves and horns that emphasise the sense of something that's restrained but really shouldn't be. More often than not, Mammoth's electronic additions work well with Hibberd’s mode of lyrical expression, elevating the songwriting where it counts...