Sur La Mer is a new project from Atsu Nagayama. Her first release, 'Prelude To The Sea', is an entirely instrumental work, which seems grounded in the pastoral side of the post-rock movement. Fittingly, amongst an assortment of guests, is ex-Tortoise collaborator Julie Lui. Each track passes by fairly anonymously at first but soon the low-slung guitars and subtle melodies sink their claws in most agreeably, rather like a quiet version of Mogwai. 'Allegro' and 'Lento', in particular, stand out for their successful fusion of guitars and drums with a melancholic string accompaniment but the whole EP runs through quite seamlessly. In fact, the only real complaint is that this is just a fifteen-minute listening experience but a full album is set to follow later in the year.