For their second album, this New York indie duo have turned their attention from a curiosity with cults, to the more tried and true topic of a break-up.
Except that as a break-up album, this one is a little different.
Firstly it's about their own break-up - singer Madeline Follinand guitarist Brian Oblivion were a couple when they started the band, but between their debut and writing album number two, they split romantically, though decided to keep the band together. Secondly, though it's a rather personal, it's neither angry, nor flippant, and maintains a sense of perspective.
Their signature style of serious lyrical material combined with sweet vocals, and upbeat, layered 60s and 70s-inspired pop remains, densely fuzzed up with reverb, delay and, of course, static.
The production is by no means low-fi though - the static is more like a metaphor for the confusion of a break up, and there are purposeful moments of clarity woven throughout the almost chamber pop arrangements.
The guitars chime, the strings shimmer, the synths are suitably pulsating, and Follin sounds beautifully melancholy. The one letdown is the songs can start to sound rather similar in tone and have a tendency to drift occasionally. But midway through the album there's a triple highlight with the organ-psych of High Road, driving duet Were Before, and the whirling rock-along chorus of So Far.
