First album for Kranky in eight years by these ambient/shoegaze legends. Exceptionally sumptuous guitar and bass textures, carefully defined and not overwhelming. Windy & Carl are a married couple who run a record store in Dearborn, MI, and have been making music like this since the early nineties. Compared to previous releases, this album is more song-focused and has cleaner, more prominent vocals (which sound great in this context). It's also a concept album about "a spy who finds herself in trouble and has to find a way to survive." RIYL His Name Is Alive, Slowdive, Hammock, Grouper, Sister Grotto/Midwife. Favorites: 1, 3, 6. No FCCs detected.

1. *(4:33)—Slow Velvet Underground vibe to start, lovely background guitar textures. The vocals and guitars aren't really in key with each other, and the effect is quite nice.
2. (6:43)—Vocals more buried, wonderful melodic washes of guitar and bass.
3. *(9:04)—Sounds like an old surf track run through a chain of effects and layered over itself five times. Glimmering and intense.
4. (6:30)—Controlled shoegaze-noise blast, starts loud, gentle singing underneath.
5. (5:48)—No vocals. Rippling glass keyboard textures, like from the first Eluvium album.
6. *(5:52)—Fades in quickly. Ambient haze, jittery guitar melody with muted distortion. "Running, I am running through the trees." Slint-like spoken word, slow fades to just moody guitar.