Sometimes, catching the eye can be as important as catching the ear, at least in the beginning. Slovakian singer and composer Ester Wiesnerova definitely catches the eye with her debut release, Blue Journal. Inside a plain brown cardboard box is something of a tactile, as well as visual, treat:—a book covered in rich blue felt, full of photographs and song lyrics, held closed by a loop of black elastic and decorated solely by the title and artist's name written on a small rectangle of wood. It is a pleasure to hold and to read. But if the music it contains was not worth listening to, then it would be rather a pointless exercise. Thankfully, the music is a delight, the sound of a refreshing, inventive, new ensemble which is still finding its feet but showing plenty of talent as it does so.

Wiesnerova trained in Berklee and the New England Conservatory, and was living in New York until covid hit, at which point she returned home. She lists