The follow-up to the indie electronic trio's 2012 eponymous debut,
Sister sees
Laura Bettinson,
Joey Waronker, and
Nigel Godrich delivering another evocative set of glacial soundscapes and cosmopolitan beats that syncopate with the discomfort of the times. Fans of
Godrich's production work and
Waronker's versatile session drumming prowess will find familiarity in
Sister's wobbly beats, cascading synths, and Baroque-electro-pop melodies, many of which echo the former's work with
Radiohead and solo
Thom Yorke, and the latter's contributions to the
Radiohead frontman's other side project
Atoms for Peace. Built from a series of improv sessions, the meandering nine-track set rewards repeated listens. Highlights arrive early on with "Tin King," "Harmony," and "Anybody" setting a steady and swirling pace; the latter track sees
Godrich applying layers of abbreviated strings a la
A Moon Shaped Pool. Elsewhere, a shifting Motorik pulse drives "Ordinary Boy," elevating the track beyond a sterile CPR jam, the restrained, slow-burn instrumentation on "Mariella" allows
Bettinson some space to shine, and the knotty early moments of "Bumblebee" make way for a lush and armhair-raising chorus that earns its icy pristineness. Consistently hypnotic, yet rich with sneaky melodic shifts,
Sister's rich sonic architecture, which includes
Bettinson's anodyne vocals and stream of consciousness wordsmithing, is its greatest selling point. ~ James Christopher Monger