Breaks In the Sun

Portland, Oregon’s Adam Shearer and Weinland make music that is for the most part delicate and beautiful, and at moments achingly sad. Their 2008 debut, La Lamentor, announced a band clearly inspired by the likes of Elliott Smith and Low, but on their second album, they turn the pace up a notch. And that’s a good thing: La Lamentor is too sleepy to make good road-trip music, but Breaks In The Sun could get you from L.A. to Vegas, along with some Neko Case and Uncle Tupelo thrown in for good measure. In addition to the reluctantly melancholy (the lovely, Mark Kozelek-ish “Sunken Eyes”) and the lovestruck and deflated (the breathtaking “I Feel Wasted), Breaks offers up airy and sparkling tracks that let in the light  (“People Like You” and “It’s Already True”). Comparatively upbeat tunes — like “Autumn Blood,” where organ, guitar, and strings work up an actual froth — recharge your aural senses just when you feel the wind-down. You can almost hear Neil Young’s take on “I’m Sure It Helps,” which would likely be more resignation-filled than Shearer’s faintly hopeful version. A highly rewarding, skillfully balanced collection of songs.