If the sweetly dreamy but subtly twisted sound of
Desertshore sounds a bit familiar, it may be because you're remembering guitarist
Phil Carney's previous gigs in
Red House Painters and
Sun Kil Moon -- or you may be picking up on the classical background of his partner, pianist
Chris Connolly. On the band's second album, the two are joined by drummers Dave Muench and Mike Stevens, and by
Carney's former
Sun Kil Moon bandmate
Mark Kozelek, who sings on the first six of the album's ten tracks. The resulting sound is utterly gorgeous: if song titles like "Randy Quaid" and "Pollen Hinges" signal any ironic intent, it's thoroughly buried beneath layers and layers of softly ringing guitars, gently relentless melodic hooks, simple-but-elegant piano parts, and
Kozelek's disarmingly plainspoken vocals. As enjoyable as
Kozelek's contributions are, though, it's the instrumental tracks that embed their hooks most deeply: the shimmering "Matchlight Arcana," the gorgeous and disappointingly brief "Pollen Hinges" and "Light Flowers," and the equally beautiful "Hellborg" (a tribute to bassist
Jonas Hellborg, perhaps?). This is an exceptionally lovely album. ~ Rick Anderson