Ices

Lia Ices’ previous LP, Grown Unknown, left the impression of wood nymphs and fairies writing and playing music, heads together deep in the woods with acoustic guitars, jangling bells, and tambourines. It’s a gorgeous neo-folk album. Then Ices' move to Northern California from Brooklyn coincided with a change in musical direction, one that includes loops and samples but also warmer tropical flavors and a variety of worldly spices like Middle Eastern string instruments and percussion. Experimental producer Clams Casino (“cloud rap,” anyone?) can take some credit for the fullness and richness pulsing through Ices, especially in the layers of trip-hoppy warmth on songs like “Thousand Eyes” and the otherworldly exotica of tunes like “Electric Arc.” A mesmerizing, early Kate Bush charm pulses through “How We Are,” and “Higher” is a buoyant, sparkling bundle of surprises. Ices brings a kind of childlike joy to her captivating, mystical sound; the wood nymphs are having way more fun here.