The most immediately impressive thing about A Thousand Shark’s Teeth is the breadth of its influences, which is not necessarily a recommendation.

Shara Worden has mined all the leftfield female talents of the past few decades to come up with a second album that is certainly delightful in its melodic beauty and imposing in its fierceness, yet seems somewhat anchorless at time, as if Worden were still trying to find a comfortable identity.

Undeniably brilliant opener ‘Inside a Boy’ is loud and brash, even reminiscent of Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane, but is a false indicator of where the rest of the album goes. ‘To Pluto’s Moon’ sounds a little too much like Bjork to be taken on its own merits, while several songs show a desire to go to the mystical/poetic places St Vincent took us to last year, yet they lack the effortless oddness of both of these artists. Harsh perhaps, for this is an album nothing if not interesting, yet frustrating in its lack of urgency.

Barnaby Smith