Acid and Everything

The Boston duo Gem Club is two classically trained musicians: pianist/vocalist Christopher Barnes and cellist Kristen Drymala. This stunning debut is like the proverbial onion; the layers slowly peel away, accompanied by no shortage of tears and regret. One might presume a major heartbreak (or lousy childhood) was a catalyst for Gem Club’s formation, but whatever the inspiration these painfully delicate songs move with grace and precision, carefully constructed to allow breathing room between the lonesome, spare pianos and sighing cellos. Barnes’s vocals have a seriously heartrending quality, and he doles out his painterly lyrics slowly and deliberately, letting phrases like “I have never known anyone/I’ll sew these bones/before the dawn” settle in at their leisure. Buoyed by the relatively airy and nimble “Animals” and the sweet, ethereal title track, Acid and Everything comes across as a minimalist but weighty treasure chest of unspeakably lovely baubles, its sorrowful soul somehow at peace with the world.