Precociousness always catches its observer off guard; we are witness to a stubborn incongruity, a disproportionate relationship between limited years and elevated levels of skill, insight, or vision.

It confounds common experience, and we wonder. When ORTOLAN's debut album "Time On A String" was released in 2010, three quarters of the family foursome were yet under drinking age.

Along with copious kudos given to the quality of the music and the maturity of the song-writing, every single review made mention of their age.

Wonder indeed. What may be the greater marvel though, is when a nascent talent starts to grow into itself; when prodigious promise begins to deliver something beyond spectacle, when it begins to nourish those who are witness to it.

Such is the case with ORTOLAN's latest, "Covered In Black".