Every Moment, Everything You Need in Bloomington, MN

During the COVID-19 global pandemic, music's ability to provide refuge was more vital than ever, and it was something
Deserta
's
Matthew Doty
both needed and provided. A nurse,
Doty
worked grueling shifts on the pandemic's frontlines, then wrote and recorded what became
Every Moment, Everything You Need
in the studio he set up in his family's two-bedroom apartment. However, his cramped creative quarters aren't apparent on
's second album; if anything, it sounds even bigger than his debut
Black Aura My Sun
. To maximize the album's scope,
brought in two experts of epic sonics:
Chris Coady
engineered and co-produced
, while
Dave Fridmann
mixed it (surprisingly, this is the first time the pair have worked on the same project). The layered depth of the album's sound is notable on tracks as different as the triumphant opener "Lost in the Weight," which echoes
Mogwai
and
Slowdive
in its soft-focus majesty, and "I'm So Tired," which represents the synth pop side of
's music with deceptively lively beats and keyboard motifs that push its reassuring melody forward. Drummer
James McAlister
also helps
live up to the immediacy of its title on "A World Without," where his driving rhythms meld with the electronic percussion, synths, and guitars perfectly. Another guest,
Mice Parade
Caroline Lufkin
, contributes vaporous vocals to "Where Did You Go?," one of many times that the record gets lost in shoegaze bliss.
's own voice is much more prominent than it was on
, and so is the emotion on "Far from Over," which moves from brooding to urgent in a way that reflects the high-stakes feeling of the album as a whole. Though there are more standout moments like this and the tone-bent riff paradise of "It's All a Memory" than there were on
's debut album,
always flows seamlessly, offering a more confident and sophisticated version of
's sound along the way. ~ Heather Phares