Daylights for the Birds: Trouble Everywhere

The seductive songs on Trouble Everywhere are closer to stargazing than any “indie shoegazing”. Comparable to Camera Obscura, on their debut Daylight’s for the Birds manage to create eloquent baroque pop that maps out a dreamy pastoral soundscape that lies somewhere between joyful exuberance and wistful melancholia. Seamlessly merging strings, wind, synth, and glockenspiel (not forgetting Beenie the cat’s closing purr on “Try”), over the course of the album they conjure up densely allusive epics ranging from the lush tones of “Early Summer” to the effervescent “Please”. But it’s the sweet, soaring vocals by Claudia Deheza and Amanda Garrett that glide over, around, and under these gorgeous arrangements which make this record shine. Nevertheless, a pleasant change of pace occurs when founding member Phillip Wann takes over vocal duties and initiates a Velvets-inspired moment on the title track. This is an atmospheric soundtrack to a beautifully troubled dream.