Borrowed Beams of Light

Another really busy week..I've got an interview with Wooden Shjips in the works, another with John Hiatt in the pipeline, and a ton of paid work that none of you want to hear about. Meanwhile, here's a review of baroque pop Borrowed Beams of Light, whose first album takes the 15th century encrypted Voynich manuscript as its inspiration.

Borrowed Beams of Light
Stellar Hoax
Speakertree / World Records


Borrowed Beams of Light’s first full-length bursts with exuberance. Adam Brock and Nathan Walsh, at various points, pound piano keys, bang on cymbals, and break into giddy wordless spates of “ah-ah-ahs” and “whoa-oh-ohs.” There’s a caffeinated jitter just under the surface on even the tenderest, feyest indie-pop intervals of Stellar Hoax, even in the luminous, waltz-time “Nightwatch.” Elsewhere in the faster tunes, you can hear a hint of Danielson’s existential glee in the way that Brock’s voice frays at the high end into sheer vibrating euphoria.

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You can stream the whole album here.