Soul/folk/post-rock
From Swans to Spiritualized, this has been a fantastic year for music that appropriates and expands on gospel traditions, and Cold Specks offer another great release in this vein. The band aims for a quieter, lusher sound than the artists above, and frontwoman Al Spx’s achingly gorgeous vocals are authoritative but restrained. Wow. Favorites: 3, 4, 6, 7, 11. No FCCs detected.

1. (2:16)—Medium-slow guitar plucking. Subdued vocals. Strings and backing vocals in the chorus.
2. (2:29)—Slow. Starts sparely but builds and adds drums, washes of guitar, and strings over the song’s course.
3. *(4:05)—Mid-tempo. Starts with piano and vocals. Drums, strings and a choir emerge further on. Builds but never explodes. Chills the bones.
4. *(3:20)—Slow. Reverb-y guitar begins the song, and later a full band enters. Very catchy chorus.
5. (2:35)—Medium-fast. Lush, almost a fusion of shoegaze and soul.
6. *(3:50)—Mid-tempo. Gorgeous opening. Acoustic guitar dominates the first half. Drums and a choir break in, then recede.
7. *(4:14)—Medium-fast. Acoustic guitar with the occasional inclusion of a choir. In terms of power, Spx’s vocal delivery approaches Bob Dylan’s.
8. (3:48)—Mid-tempo. Piano-driven. Builds in the final third. A cappella ending.
9. (3:12)—Medium-fast. Full band enters a minute in.
10. (4:01)—Slow. Plucked guitar begins the song, and other instruments gradually enter until the song is very loud.
11. *(3:11)—Medium-slow. No full band, mostly just acoustic guitar and vocals. The restraint ends the album beautifully.