Long Lost in Bloomington, MN

Lord Huron
's fourth full-length effort and the follow-up to 2018's
Vide Noir
, the aptly named
Long Lost
sounds trapped in amber -- nostalgia has always been a topical and stylistic throughline for the Los Angeles-based/Michigan-bred indie-folk group. A fever dream of Baroque pop and country-western twang, the 16-track set commences with the first of several interstitial pieces before launching into the opulent single "Mine Forever." Outfitted with plenty of open road imagery, lush vistas, and wet,
Morricone
-inspired guitar stabs, it's unabashedly retro, stunningly beautiful, and generally indicative of what follows. Peppered with interludes that run the gamut from gang vocal callbacks to spectral radio emissions,
aims for total immersion, and when consumed in a single sitting, it is undeniably transportive. The sonic touchstones of past outings remain prominent -- the snappy "Not Dead Yet" bears the hallmarks of a
Lindsey Buckingham
production, and the title cut is awash in dense
Fleet Foxes
harmonies -- but for the most part, the band's verdant, Midwestern splendor has been consumed by rolling tumbleweeds and open prairies. Except for the jocular "At Sea," an exercise in
Nilsson
-esque Tiki Torch exotica,
feels like it was conceived and constructed in the alternate reality of an Old West version of the
Moody Blues
. Agreeable yet melancholic and peppered with moments of cinematic
Lynch
-ian weirdness, it's the purest and most satisfying distillation of
's pastoral folk-pop to date, and the perfect soundtrack for a road trip to nowhere. ~ James Christopher Monger