"Italian quintet Settlefish offer up their second album, The Plural Of The Choir, a multi-movement indie-jazz / post-hardcore odyssey with heartbreakingly poetic lyrics. Rocking Like Modest Mouse and At The Drive-In, it's one of the best thing to ever come out on Deep Elm, so check it out." - Alternative Press

"Settlefish create a sense of panicked urgency from the moment the listener hits play. Deep Elm comes up trumps once again, unsurprising indeed, but still never ceasing to impress. Settlefish's music is raw, it's real, there's no facade and no boredom, just utter brilliance." - Rock Sound

"Truly coming into their own, Settlefish strike a chord of truth and loss that resonates for every one of these thirty-eight minutes. The Plural Of The Choir is the sound of a band who have finally gained a foothold in the aural landscape they're attempting to conquer and who have found their own voice and are using it to shout as loud as they can. Jonathan Clancy's vocals are as rough as the songs, bringing a wounded honesty that evokes early The Anniversary. The songs possess a feel similar to Braid and American Football, though the unique structures and occasional moody instrumental breaks create a feeling that's solely their own." - Exclaim

"The Plural Of The Choir is a superbly cohesive and original work of art, combing over the fields of several genres for the best traces of style to create something that delicately walks the tightrope between accessible and experimental. The band's lush, atmospheric sound seems to throw together the post-prefixed versions of their take on hardcore, punk and rock, and in doing so, comes off dreamy and yet somehow dancey and singable. The production is raw, and it couldn't fit the style better, giving the record an improvisationally-executed feel. Oh Well immediately starts off with ridiculously dynamic chord movement; one guitar is beaten through power chords and another is used to fill the speakers with flowing, ambient riffing. Blinded By Noise is a summed-up conveyance of the band's more intense, aggressive moments, as it takes an At The Drive-In influence to refreshing heights, while its partner in crime, Two Cities, Two Growths, is the more mid-tempo, depth-rising example of the tense emotions the record is hiding underneath the surface. We Please The Night, Drama couldn't close the record any more appropriately; it's a six-minute track that flushes out every last bit of atmospheric tension it's been building up. Settlefish is likely to leave a permanent inkling upon the indie rock scene, as The Plural Of The Choir is a great effort that lurks in experimental waters without drowning finless." - Punknews

"A musical masterpiece! Haunting, melodic, catastrophic and intense, The Plural Of The Choir puts Settlefish at a new innovative level. From beautiful ballads to pounding attacks, this is a record of multiple conflicts, raging emotions and naked experiments. It's gentle and honest without being flimsy, and Settlefish have found the perfect balance in variation. Kissing Is Chaos begins the album in style with its dreamy opening sequence and eerie harmonics, building into a tremendous crescendo and fading out again as singer Jonathan Clancy comes in with his distant, all-the-time-in-the-world vocals. This doesn't last long though as Oh Well brings up the tempo with its deep rolling drums and nagging guitars. The whole album is in fact, perfection. Blinded By Noise, Rooms, and Girl Understanding Song are all highlights for me before the delicate piano in We Please The Night, Drama brings the album to a sad yet optimistic end. I cannot recommend The Plural Of The Choir highly enough!" - Screaming Tarts

"With The Plural Of The Choir, Settlefish gives fans of indie rock plenty of reasons to be cheerful. Tempering experimental, discordant indie rock with alluring melodies isn't the easiest task but Settlefish and producer Brian Deck capably construct their art. It's not surprising, based on Deck's pedigree, that The Barnacle Beach sounds like it could be a collaboration with Isaac Brock and company. The Plural Of The Choir is a success by-and-large." - All Music

"Settlefish emphasize their punchier, angular and more immediate side on The Plural Of The Choir. Although still fairly roaming and free, the record seems to have a better sense of direction and a general condensing that has made the band a little easier to get your head around. And it's a much better record for it; better than the debut even...which is an impressive claim, as the first album in itself was very good indeed. The Plural Of The Choir may remind many of the kind of dreamy indie produced by label mates Appleseed Cast, but with a whole load of spikiness thrown in. The guitars take a jangly, spritely form: errant melodies drift into spacey atmospherics, or just as comfortably, into jazzy, angular outbursts of post-hardcore. The vocals spur on the music with their vibrant, mercurial twisty-ness, frequently getting carried away with themselves in the heat of the moment. The Plural Of The Choir displays an intricate, technical and capricious sense of invention and shows a band already on familiar terms with their considerable potential." - Kill The Noise

"The Plural Of The Choir from Settlefish has got some real merits. The dynamic aspects are impressive; near-ambient intros bring to mind Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth. Waltz times, muscular guitar bridges and deep-end bass recall Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. The guys seem to have subsumed the last few years worth of relevant listening. Their approach is a fair blend of original and derivative, but it sounds in no way like a translation of recent noteworthies. The Barnacle Beach is a nice, self-contained tug-of-war. It's well constructed, with a lovely rhythm section of bass-tom and shaker backing a homely chant of 'hopscotch round the yard.' It Was Bliss may be the standout, and it locks into a cohesive structure. The final cut, though, is in the competition for best track. We Please the Night, Drama gently tugs the listener through various movements, and they repeat in overlapping round rather than flipping back and forth. The whispery vocals are made stronger, the shouts are muted. By the time it has attained maximum density, it's in better-than-Mogwai-lately territory, and seems to fly by in four minutes, not six and a half." - Stylus

"Settlefish, perhaps one of the most difficult bands to classify on Deep Elm's always extensive roster, has been evolving. And while the brilliance of the band's debut may have been too often overlooked, here's hoping the brilliance of The Plural Of The Choir will not. Settlefish's style is a study in contrast and complexity. Embracing post hardcore and math rock equally with indie rock and stylistic experimentation, this perfectly produced (Brian Deck) sophomore release goes from aggressive and powerful rock to epic moments of flowing melodic beauty with a deceptively simple grace. The sound is distinctly American indie rock: aggressive and intricate, yet discordant and powerful, with perfect vocals and a sound that builds on classic indie rock and hardcore styles. It's a wonderful evolution of a band's sound, and it's so much fun to see." - Delusions Of Adequacy

"Taking major strides forward from their debut, Settlefish teams with producer Brian Deck for an album in The Plural Of The Choir whose technical edge and conceptual lyrics don't stand in the way of its easy enjoyment. They simply add to it, which is more than most of indie's hipster crowd ever achieved. Settlefish unravels songs whose chiming guitars and loping dynamics hide songs with depths far more compelling than standard-issue indie-rock gimmicks. Although rumbling drums and shouted vocals give Oh Well a punch, it belies the intricacy of the songwriting. Blinded by Noise channels freaked-out angular guitars and bursts of percussive drum rolls, but underneath the din sits a quietly melodic rocker. Others like To The North and The Barnacle Beach show off angular guitars descended through a few twists and turns from the Cap'n Jazz wellspring. The Plural Of The Choir isn't the flashiest or most immediate album you'll run across, but that's its charm. Rather than trade pop accessibility for its convoluted arrangements, Settlefish opts for introverted, though often energetic, tunes that deliver what indie rock was created for: smart-alecky charms, good-natured hooks and the brains to match them together." - Aversion

"Anyone who caught Settlefish on their last UK trek would attest to them being an entertaining live proposition, and this promise is fulfilled, and then some on The Plural Of The Choir. Sounding like a car crash between At The Drive-In and Pavement, before being pulled from the wreckage by the Ivory Coast, it's an eclectic blend of hardcore and post-rock that soothes as much as it screams. From the epic opener of Kissing Is Chaos to the off-kilter train of consciousness of The Barnacle Beach, Settlefish infuse each twist and turn with bags of personality and style." - Big Cheese

"Every once in a while, a record comes along that is fresh and invigorating, breathing life into a world where music means nothing any more. The Plural Of The Choir is challenging, interesting and mature: a record that makes you think, almost drifting off with the jazzy interludes that Settlefish create. It suffers from none of the genre restrictions that so many bands seem to tie themselves down to. When a band like Settlefish comes along and forcibly rips up the rule book and does things their way, you have to marvel at it. Tracks such as Kissing Is Chaos sweep majestically from the haunting atmospherics of guitar feedback, through to Clancy's vocals which inspire and drift, taking you on a musical journey. I've listened to this album on repeat for hours and hours while thinking of how to pen this review, and I've never thought once to change it, skip a track or God forbid switch it off. The Plural Of The Choir has inspired me to go out and find exciting new music again...and if music has the ability to help pull you out of a rut, then that surely has to be a massive compliment to Settlefish." - Punktastic

"The Plural Of The Choir is a fifteen track masterpiece about love, loss and friendship. The most original part of Settlefish is the vocal ability of Jonathan Clancy, who is able to put real feelings and emotion into the words, making you feel what he's singing like it's your own personal experience. Without trying to hype it too much, I do believe this is one of the five best records that Deep Elm ever released." - Truepunk