We Could Be Arsonists

We Could Be Arsonists resonates with the strength of a band hitting its stride. Aside from years of hard work, these songs are also the result of much change and growth between Loquat’s second and third albums. Singer Kylee Swenson Gordon’s vocal performance on “I Count the Ways” for Nortec Collective’s GRAMMY®-nominated Bulevar 2000 helped Loquat sign to Nacional Records. Then she and husband/bassist Anthony Gordon became parents in the midst of a band lineup change (founding member Earl Otsuka had departed). Here, from the first few notes of the standout opener, “Time Bending,” it’s evident that Swenson has transcended past influences to find her true voice. Her velvety singing over a cosmopolitan dream-pop background can be compared to Feist's seamless cadence and Dominique Durand's enticing melancholy, but Kylee lets that alluring contrast of breathy coos and textured inflections become her own signature tone. The title track reinvents new wave with electro-indie flourishes and dub-delayed guitars. The lilting ballad “Monsters” touches on curbing the growth of festering problems, while the beachy “Seeds” muses on motherhood.