The Avalanche

Now that his band appears to be a going concern once again, is no longer 's sole musical project. However, it still feels like the purest distillation of his musical world view, one where he doesn't have to share his creative space with anyone, and 2020's is a superb showcase for the dour beauty of his songs and his ideas about bringing them to life. Though 's lo-fi home recording days are long past, having access to a real studio and the services of producer hasn't made his music any less intimate and introspective. has been produced with impressive skill and care (technically as well as in terms of performances), and between the primarily acoustic arrangements, the thoughtful use of horns and string arrangements on several tracks, and the plaintive, unguarded tone of 's vocals, this music sounds devastatingly personal and honest, beautiful on the surface yet full of troubled thoughts about himself and his world if one takes more than a cursory look. Exploring the nooks and crannies of 's psyche should be a familiar game to followers of by now, and the bittersweet resignation of this music should surprise no one with a working knowledge of his music. Still, never sounds pro forma; can make his shifting emotions understood with crystal clarity and without histrionics, and he's gracefully downbeat, an artist who turned melancholy into an accessible art form. Though happiness is elusive in 's world, beauty is not, and is a striking testament to 's gifts, where even sadness can pay handsome rewards under the right circumstances. ~ Mark Deming