With only a Radio 2 session to precede it, the debut album from brothers Michael and David Champion appeared like a bolt out of the blue.

And for believers in the environmental influence on music, it makes sense that the Champions hail from the hamlet of Niton outside the Victorian seaside enclave of Ventnor on the Isle Of Wight, as Down Like Gold sounded beautifully out of time and place, even with artists they could call peers.

Combining elder brother Michael’s exquisitely melodic, intensely dreamy and persuasively heart-breaking songs with their folk-pop leanings, his affecting vocal timbre, David’s empathic lead guitar and reinforcing harmonies that only siblings seem able to make, the album was a unique statement.

Second albums always test an artist’s strength in depth, and the 12 tracks that constitute VAMALA reach higher and wider than even its sublime predecessor: the up-tempo tracks are punchier while the ballads are sparser and more haunting, the sound altogether richer.

Don’t miss this chance to watch the brothers play live just a few miles from where it all started!

Image: © Josh Shinner