Blue Island Sound

Any act that wears its heart on its sleeve in just the right way deserves some credit. Orange Cake Mix does just that with a nod toward the art/pop/punk U.K. indie label legends with "The Days of Cherry Red," which bears a definite similarity to the work of one of that company's best-known groups, Felt. Then again, intent isn't everything when it comes to success on any front, but happily Jim Rao comes up with another winner in his own particular vein with Blue Island Sound. Pitched somewhere between his quieter and more active efforts, Blue Island Sound floats effortlessly between crisp synth pop, funk, solo acoustic calm, and many other styles, his sweet singing and gentle application of echo and reverb as always the aesthetic tools tying things together. The album maintains a general back-and-forth between the calmer and busier sides of Rao's material, both approaches complementing the other. Songs like "Honeybee" and especially the charging "Art Groupie," one of Rao's best dance-focused songs yet, could be so very outrageously cheery and rich on their own, but Rao's singing always adds just enough soft tugs at the heart. The addition of other instruments here and there — the chiming vibes on "Wonder Ways," the use of what sounds like an E-bow on "When You Touch Me the Whole World Disappears." "Godlight" is the epic centerpiece of the album in more ways than one, running nearly nine minutes, orchestral stabs swimming up through the mix, rolling synth rhythms and beats setting the persistent but calm pace throughout. Rao's ability at a killer couplet gets plenty of showcases as well, thus this winner from the anti-love song "When I Needed You Most" — "I'd rather kiss a frozen piece of wood/Memories mean nothing when I'm dead."