7/10

Over the last few years, we have watched as the conventions behind the singer-songwriter tropes move away from their polarised positions as either commercially-focused entities or more solemn folk-inspired aesthetics to something that looks to capture the minds and ears of a more common ground. Artists like Phoebe Brdigers and Lucy Dacus have created this wonderfully warm and vibrant environment for newer artists to explore and improve upon, and so we see the likes of Maple Glider enter the fold with her spellbinding debut effort 'To Enjoy Is The Only Thing', a record that sees her stake her claim to this new era from the very beginning.

One of the key advantages when it comes to creating a debut album is that you have a lifetime's worth of stories to tell with no borders or restrictions. Growing up in a restrictive religious household, falling in and out of love, cross-country and international travel, longing, alienation and more are all a feature of of this new full-length, which aims to turn her major life events into something broader and more wholesome than most would have expected. Maple Glider has this beautiful lilt about her songwriting, giving her an instant gravitas that many take years to perfect, showing us that she is a far more captivating storyteller than many of her ilk.

While many will compare her work to the cavalcade of emerging female singer-songwriters in the last few years, yet Maple Glider has something truly unique and distinctive about her sound and direction. She isn't one looking for instant attention or praise, but simply seems at ease just allowing her audience a chance to listen to her tales, an idilic and transformative quality for someone like her.