Tiny Ruins
Olympic Girls
Album · Folk · 2019
At the center of Tiny Ruins’ third album is the plaintive rise and fall of Hollie Fullbrook’s voice and the lullaby quality of her acoustic guitar-picking. In fact, there’s an alternate version of Olympic Girls available that’s simply Fullbook all on her own. But in full band mode, she enjoys gorgeous embellishment from bassist Cass Basil, drummer Alex Freer, and guitarist/producer Tom Healy. Those understated elements verge on psychedelic at times, making Fullbrook’s warbled folk songs darker and more askew (see “One Million Flowers”). But they only heighten the quiet allure of the lyrics, which flirt with both mythology (“My Love Leda,” “Kore Waits in the Underworld”) and science fiction (“Holograms”) on the way to exploring the outer edges of imagination. The influence of English folk acts like Pentangle and Fairport Convention is clear, yet so is the echo of modern indie mainstays like Beach House and Bill Callahan. And when the band springs to vivacious life with the title track’s structural twists and the softly rolling drum-and-strum of “Sparklers,” it’s easy to understand why Fullbrook promoted Tiny Ruins from a solo outlet to a proper ensemble. She and her bandmates have only continued to build on that nuanced warmth with 2023’s Ceremony.
Olympic Girls
Tiny Ruins
At the center of Tiny Ruins’ third album is the plaintive rise and fall of Hollie Fullbrook’s voice and the lullaby quality of her acoustic guitar-picking. In fact, there’s an alternate version of Olympic Girls available that’s simply Fullbook all on her own. But in full band mode, she enjoys gorgeous embellishment from bassist Cass Basil, drummer Alex Freer, and guitarist/producer Tom Healy. Those understated elements verge on psychedelic at times, making Fullbrook’s warbled folk songs darker and more askew (see “One Million Flowers”). But they only heighten the quiet allure of the lyrics, which flirt with both mythology (“My Love Leda,” “Kore Waits in the Underworld”) and science fiction (“Holograms”) on the way to exploring the outer edges of imagination. The influence of English folk acts like Pentangle and Fairport Convention is clear, yet so is the echo of modern indie mainstays like Beach House and Bill Callahan. And when the band springs to vivacious life with the title track’s structural twists and the softly rolling drum-and-strum of “Sparklers,” it’s easy to understand why Fullbrook promoted Tiny Ruins from a solo outlet to a proper ensemble. She and her bandmates have only continued to build on that nuanced warmth with 2023’s Ceremony.
