Alt-folk husband and wife duo Pegasuses consume on their new album Sea of Joy, showcasing the Southampton-based act as expanding their intimate, harmony-led songwriting into richer terrain. Recorded live with Russell Marsden, the album balances warmth and wit, blending acoustic intimacy with subtle synths, pedal steel, and darkly comic emotional nuance. The result is a fully immersive listening experience from the duo, which comprises Dave Miatt and Laura Lamb.
“My Friend the Moon” crafts an inviting opening, building from nocturnal ambience and vocal reflections — emitting an owl-like charm — into soft acoustic strums and a stirring duet-forward narrative. “I spy an old friend who waits in the dark. We walk together, she lights up the path,” the vocals let out, finding tranquility in that familiar glow and guiding light. “Goodnight Ricky” arrives next, featuring frolicking guitar shimmering and twinkling keys, with melodic vocals carrying emotive weight with lines like “wallow in the weight of what is wrong / can’t finish a song” — capturing a relatable sense of artistic paralysis.
The album’s standout songwriting continues throughout, right away with the absorbing lushness and starry-eyed nostalgia within “Shady Grove.” Its youthful, smitten recollections and passage-of-time introspection send chills as Lamb’s lead vocals envelop into the “through the trees I go” mystique and touch of harmonica. “Follow Him Down” is another gem with youth recollections, melding initial twangy guitar tones into a playful acoustic-set folk allure as stern parental guidance and coming-of-age immersion drive into a resonating title-touting ending. Album finale “Snowglobe” is gorgeous as well, especially in its dreamy synth infusions and trickling guitar work. Sea of Joy is a resonating success of an album from Pegasuses.
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“Follow Him Down” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
