Tomorrow Is Another Day

Tomorrow Is Another Day is the second collaboration between Ulrich Schnauss and Engineers' Mark Peters, a pair of musicians who, together and separately, have a long-standing reputation as shoegaze revivalists. Not surprisingly, these songs are undeniably dreamy, but there's a more active, textural feel to them than either the duo's previous album, Underrated Silence, or Schnauss' prior solo album, A Long Way to Fall, had. The washy sounds that dominated those efforts now provide a backdrop to Peters and Schnauss' intricate interplay and counterpoint, which, while still restful, makes for more engaging listening on the title track and "Additional Ghosts." The duo turns in lively but not showy performances with crisp attacks that showcase how tightly intertwined Schnauss' keyboard and Peters' guitar playing are; the title of "One Finger and Someone Else's Chords" hints at the easy way they finish each other's thoughts. Tomorrow Is Another Day also boasts a wider range of moods than Underrated Silence; the slightly darker edge of pieces like "Walking with My Eyes Closed" and the windswept closing track "There's Always Tomorrow" give the album more depth without distracting from its overall mellowness. Similarly, the almost funky bounce to the low end on "Bound by Lies" and "Inconvenient Truths" adds some needed muscle and diversity. Schnauss and Peters don't abandon the new age-y feel of Underrated Silence entirely, and serenity and prettiness are still the watchwords of their music, especially on anodyne cuts like "Slow Southern Skies" and the watery "Das Volk Hat Keine Seele." But even if Tomorrow Is Another Day is nearly as calm, cool, and collected as Underrated Silence, it still suggests that the duo's collaboration is moving in a more intriguing direction.