Melodic post-rock, heavy on the keys, with a strong bassline. If you’ve heard the Album Leaf before, you have in many ways heard this album already, too. That sounds like a complaint, but it’s not. This music is mellow and beautiful—an acquiescent listen if ever there were one. That also sounds like a diss, but I swear, it isn’t! Jimmy LaValle’s voice is plain, and backing vocals added don’t particularly embellish it one way or another, but it doesn’t matter. In the end, voice is just one shade on LaValle’s palette, along with guitars, horns, strings, and electronics. It’s rich, steady, confident—and there are some exquisite moments on this record. The ghostly slide guitar on album-closer “Tied Knots”; the warm percussion, strings and whistling on “Within Dreams.” Recommended for those who like their post-rock gentle, subtle and cozy—like a soft, threadbare-in-places but still-functional quilt. A note for Icelandophiles: LaValle has toured with Sigur Rós and he recorded this album at their studio, Sundlaugin (“The Swimming Pool”). (Sub Pop, www.subpop.com) Jenny Henkelman
Winnipeg music & culture since 1989