The CDs I get in the mail roughly fall into the following categories: poor music but good artwork, good music but poor artwork or, as is the case on very rare occasions, stunningly beautiful music and artwork ditto. The duo Ponies in the Surf, consisting of the charming pair Camille and Alexander McGregor, have surely managed to produce a record which falls into the highly esteemed latter category. The sweet and sensitive voice of Camille (reminding me slightly of an American Isobel Campbell) complements well the seriousness and darker voice of Alexander, the vocals backed up by a brooding, at times bittersweet and melancholic acoustic guitar. It’s all so charmingly simple that I don’t know how anyone could resist falling in love with “A Demonstraiton” at first listen, a record which with seemingly great easy captures the sensitivies of the artist’s nature in musical form. They even perform a sweet little soft-spoken thing in French entitled “Je T’aime”. Cliche? Not at all – tastefully done and all, think Leonard Cohen, Donovan and Galaxie 500.

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