UNIQUE, UNEVEN : CHECK LIST: **** Great Balls of Fire, *** Good Vibrations, ** Maybe Baby, * Running on Empty

***”HELLEBORINE.” Shelleyan Orphan. Rough Trade/Columbia. The instruments are cello, violin, viola, oboe, acoustic guitar, harp and two voices. The influences: Cocteau Twins, T. Rex, Nick Drake and David Sylvian. Obviously, this isn’t your typical pop debut. Soft, lyrical yet vibrant, the music made by Scots Caroline Crawley and Jemaur Tayle still isn’t as good as it might be: The two don’t yet possess the vocal magic of Drake, Sylvian or the Cocteaus’ Liz Fraser, some of the songs aren’t as well thought out as others, and the Shelley-inspired lyrics are uneven. Nevertheless, here’s a uniquely against-the-commercial-grain sound and an enticing introduction to a duo that often lives up to the names dropped. Drake’s bittersweet folk, Sylvian’s silkiness, early T. Rex’s woodsy weirdness, Fraser’s delicacy and perhaps the styles of unnamed favorites (Kate Bush?) are combined to make something special.