Tomorrow Is Another Day

A bunch of records arrived in the mail today, this is one of 'em. And it's more than the beautiful cover that reminds one of The Clientele's Suburban Light collection. Crushed Stars is a one-man project by Todd Gautreau, which I hadn't heard about before this his third record. Whereas his background in electronic ambient (performing as Sonogram) is apparent on the first album, called Self-Navigation (streaming in its entirety on last.fm), this is a certified POP album. It's the little things here and there, like the fact that the guitar lick in "Amherst Incident" is insanely catchy and that the last track is called "Clare Grogan's Scar". And what is that but a nod to the roots of indiepop? It might even get it a spin at our Scottish-themed club night next month!

The music is spacious and sparse (if you can call something with four layers of guitar that!) and Todd's voice is soft and dry. The record's got one thing no Clientele record's got though - 12-string guitar used to great effect on tracks like the opening "Spies". Overall he's used many different guitars, nylon- and steel-stringed acoustics and electric guitars with very different sounds and settings. The lyrics don't exactly jump out at you, but one line that's stuck in my mind is '

there was no place left to hide, the doors were locked from the outside' from "Oh, the Places You'll Go" - suggesting more attentive listening will be rewarded. This is one of the best records so far this year, and definitely leaves me wanting to check out its predecessor Obsolescence. It's a perfect record for the end of winter, with the waxing warmth of compositions like "Snow Day". Available from Simulacra since a week.