Better-than-your-average hobbit rock. Melancholy, dark melodic folk indie pop from the UK. Full band sound. Violins, acoustic guitars, light mournful male indie vox. Songs for (a) an ill-fated pilgrimage at sea, (b) a gypsy caravan, or (c) Ren Faire. An accomplished set piece.

RIYL: Midlake, Mumford & Sons, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack

try: 3, 1, 4, 2
no FCCs

1. sitar-type intro. balled-up beat. aggressive, moody folk. rich cello, twinkly guitar. earthy harmonies that go full-blown serenade in the chorus.
2. sudden and off-the-beat introductory verse that sounds like a sea shanty. at :50 in (3:27 to end), nice high-reg guitar roots the piece. cue: violins, ship-rocking slurred bass. really sweet melody.
3. haunty rapid fingerpicked melody that's masterfully interwoven with gradually added layers of instrumentation. deep violin.
4. trilly/tremolo drum-less ambience. crystal high-reg death cab vox. spare drums and violin 1:30 in morph the track into a bass-rooted, somber, slow pretty folk track. ends with a hypnotic plucked electric vamp. (note: the track title is the name of an order of fish. from the greek for "hollow spine".)