‘Haar’, the name of Heaton-based Jessie Howard’s music project, is a meteorological term meaning a sea fog on the east coast of England or Scotland between April and September, when warm air passes over the cold North Sea. This is exactly what ‘skylight’ feels like; it is ethereal yet natural, warm yet refreshing. Jessie’s vocals are light as air, with seamless harmonies melding with jangling guitar riffs, keyboard melodies and gentle percussion. What makes this instrumentation even more impressive is that haar does not use a laptop, instead layering up live sounds on an 8-track digital recorder. ‘skylight’ is as brightening as, well, a skylight. LT

Out now, self release