Yet another in the unfairly long list of extraordinary records originally released by Rough Trade, SOS JFK is one of those records that’s naggingly reminiscent of other things, but also feels if it sprang fully formed from some other place where the air is purer, utterly devoid of influence.

Andy Bar’s rattling strum is like a sparser, more raw version of Mazzy Star guitarist David Roback’s but Josephine Foster’s voice has a glassy, alien quality that recalls Hugo Largos Mimi Goese or Shirley Collins, and there are moments of airy, unhinged beauty worthy of Mary Margaret O’Hara.

The point in “Mary” when Foster’s harp comes in is heart-stopping. Her words are bewitching, too, mixing religious imagery and child-like simplicity like the poet Stevie Smith.

Vinyl, LP, Reissue

Tracklist:
A1 Little Boy
A2 Mary
A3 Wyoming
A4 Kindness Of Strangers
A5 Anna
A6 The Lumberjack Song
B1 Adoption Day
B2 Nearby Room
B3 Lost Love
B4 Special King
B5 SOS JFK
B6 The Chinese Song
B7 Going Home

The Children's Hour