Folding Leaves, the latest record from Message to Bears, takes the idea of something rustic and organic and tenderly crafts it into musical origami: something complex and detailed, yet gracefully simple. Jerome Alexander, the multi-instrumentalist behind MTB, combines layers of rustic strings, crisp acoustic guitar and a warm, almost wordless vocal melody – a sound which builds throughout each song and across the whole album. The resolution of each crescendo – after the communal, folksy accumulation of voices, strings and other instruments – is either triumphant, or left to crumble away on a breeze of bird song and crackling ambience. The effect is an album that is unfolding in two ways: both as an old letter or map, unfurling to display detail and emotion, or disappearing, as an origami swan pulled at two ends loses its creases, becoming as formless and unassuming as it began.' credits: Released 18 January 2012 by Dead Pilot Records and Nature Bliss (Asia) including bonus track. Composed and produced by Jerome Alexander at Message To Bears studio in Oxford. Viola and violin performed by Laura Ashby. Mastered by Keith Kenniff. Artwork by Jake Blanchard. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.