outerbeats

Another installment in the Clairecords line of well-conceived dream pop, full of shimmering guitar melodies overlaid with spacious male and female vocals much in the style of the Cure intermingled with shoegaze bands like Ride and Slowdive. The music is intricately layered in wraps of sound between synth, effects-heavy guitars, droning bass, and various electronic elements. The production levels alone put this album far above many of the bands attempting to create similar aural landscapes without nearly half as much success. Sometimes they come off sounding like a more dreamy Depeche Mode, other times there is a more jazzy style that overrides, and occasionally they dip off into things that are too sappy and overdone for traditional tastes. Overall, the success in layering of moods and textures make this worth listening to, if not becoming obsessed with in certain ways.