Dream Work

After the release of 2017's , 's spent several years immersed in his passion for ambient music and guided meditation. Judging by his third album as , that time was well spent. Though its title is , there's much less apparent effort on its songs -- and that's a good thing. Even on his early EPs, showed he could pare back his synth pop and bare his heart. Here, he does both with a newfound ease. 's serenity is thoroughly informed by the music he made while on hiatus from , but aside from "Drom," which closes the album with soothingly flutey synths and flowing water, brings the feelings of contemplation and enlightenment associated with ambient and new age music into his existing indie electro-pop style. The washy synths on "Spirit Voices" feel like a bridge between 's earlier and later music, and "Midnight in My Head" augments 's typically breezy synth pop with acoustic guitars and hand drums. At times, the album's quietly insistent pulse calls to mind 's mellow insights (as on "Big Empty Sky") or even the sweeter side of (as on the conversational duet "Like You Said," where the combination of a pensive melody and driving rhythm is classic ). balances the idealistic and pragmatic sides of self-discovery as deftly as he blends 's acoustic and electronic instrumentation as he sings about "psychic revelations" on "Connection" and remembers the little things that make life worthwhile on "Grateful." True to the album's feeling of trusting in the process, 's light touch holds everything together, and provides ample proof that reflection and reinvention don't have to be flashy to be effective. ~ Heather Phares