One Track Mind

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Difficult though it may be for fans of The Album Leaf to believe, it has been over a decade since the San Diego post-rock band debuted with their An Orchestrated Rise to Fall LP. Originally a side project for Tristeza guitarist Jimmy LaValle, the group has since fleshed out their own distinctive sound over the course of four full-lengths and twice as many EPs. That sound frequently centers on LaValle’s airy guitar melodies, subtle drum machine programming, and the occasional incorporation of found sound snippets or other samples, with a sensibility that is always calm yet progressive. Come February 2nd, The Album Leaf will release their fifth record, A Chorus of Storytellers, on Sub Pop. Recorded in Seattle and mixed in Reykjavik, Iceland, the set marks the first time the full band has worked together during the recording process (rather than LaValle laying down all of the tracks himself).

“Falling from the Sun,” Chorus‘ fifth song, feels a lot like waking up. Its first seventy seconds are a gentle, fitful emergence from someplace where lines are a fuzzy blur. Another twenty seconds later, however, the sleep gets rubbed out of your eyes, objects take focus, and your body begins working in a coordinated rhythm again. This gradual awakening is entirely by design, of course–a calculated songwriting gesture which serves to make the chiming guitars and placid synthesizers all the more commanding. The star of “Falling from the Sun” is LaValle’s oft-repeated chorus of “we’ll find a way to fall,” which is delivered in a sedate melody yet has that all important power of stickiness that any great refrain needs. It all makes for a transfixing, mellow experience showcasing how The Album Leaf continues to grow as a band a decade into their run.