Spain

While the end of the aughts saw a flurry of youthful, peppy-sad alt-rock combos whose quicksilver mixture of emo and power pop owed more to All-American Rejects than to Weezer, Florida trio Between the Trees stand out, even amidst that bustling crowd. Through lineup changes and ever-swirling label shuffling that has mewed up many a worthy band, Between the Trees not only survived, but matured as a band. Their sparkling sophomore record, Spain, boasts a simple cover, an adrift sailboat upon a beige backdrop, but the towering music within builds upon a sly and well-received but much more understated debut. Between the Trees hangs with a Christian rock crowd, but their sweet, orchestral songs about love and woe and overcoming the former with the latter (and vice-versa) exist on its own plane; while the shimmering majesty lends a certain layer of reverence to the compositions, ultimately the band deals in silly (and serious) love songs and who is the object is irrelevant. Best known for his work with the Fray, Jeff Powell oversees the production, and his spatial touch and love for pomp and elegance reigns, perhaps a little too much at times (the soaring "The One Thing" could easily be mistaken for the aforementioned Fray). However, Spain remains an enveloping record full of dark yet upbeat swatches of poetry, subtle linguistic tricks of the light; it's never gaudy, but the sort of album which lingers in the back of a listener's consciousness only to sneak up hours later. The record is far from brilliant, but it's ear-popping pop with some truly dazzling moments which back up AP magazine's 2007 listing of the band as "one to watch."