The new album from Nap Eyes, Snapshot of a Beginner, sees the band map out territory that they've explored on earlier releases. I guess the difference this time around is that the album is more consistent in a stylistic sense. Out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors / Jagjaguwar, the record defines a mood and revels in it.
While fans of the band's first few records might find this one more subdued, there's something wonderfully serene about "So Tired" and the languid "Mystery Calling". Elsewhere, "Mark Zuckerberg" is a brisk, wildly-catchy single, even as ,"Even Though I Can't Read Your Mind" sounds a bit like Jackson Browne. Well, it sounds a tiny bit like Leonard Cohen too, as does "Fool Thinking Ways", one of the highlights here on Snapshot of a Beginner. If the album could have used more tunes like "If You Were in Prison", that comment is not meant to diminish the charms of what's here, as this is likely the most solid Nap Eyes record to date.
Snapshot of a Beginner is out on Friday via Paradise of Bachelors / Jagjaguwar.
More details via the official Nap Eyes website, or the official Facebook page.
[Photo: Alex Blouin & Jodi Heartz]