This album produces an interesting combination: folk music and synths. “Sun Arise!” is that combination in a nutshell, with Fleet Foxes style harmony vocals over a soft, starry synth line. The weary vocals add so much texture to these songs, and the production adds a nocturnal sheen to everything. There’s an alt-country bent here too, with pedal steels over these synths and the aforementioned vocals (“A Charm / A Blade” even explodes with a horn section in the most triumphant and fun track on the album). It’s like Bright Eyes mixed with the Wallflowers mixed with that electronic EP Beirut put out way back when. This is one of the best albums I’ve heard so far this year.
-Nick Kline