The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place
(Sub Pop)
Three albums and three EPs into what once was his side-project, Jimmy Lavelle has completely stepped out of Tristeza's shadow. In fact, I've actually read descriptions of this record where it is offhandedly mentioned that he was once in an obscure, instrumental guitar rock band, thanks in large part to an incredibly high profile opening slot of a few of Sigur Ros' biggest tours.
As a result, this album was recorded in Sigur Ros' studio in Iceland with percussion, string, and vocal contributions from members of Sigur Ros and Mum. And, with it, he has finally released another album to rival the richly organic, quiet beauty of his debut, An Orchestrated Rise to Fall.
The strikingly obvious difference here is the use of vocals, which is something he's never done before (unless you count the use robotic singing in a Kraftwerk cover). In a somewhat Air-like move, Jimmy stepped out from behind his knobs and keys to sing. However, he didn't do it alone; he invited two of his friends to sing along with him. Luckily for him (and us, really) he's friends with people like Jonsi from Sigur Ros and Pall from The Blackheart Procession. Alongside Jonsi's unmistakable voice on "Over the Pond," the music understandably sounds very much like Sigur Ros. The two songs with Pall Jenkins, however, sound distinctly like The Album Leaf (with singing). It's a very enjoyable change of pace. In fact, those three songs are the album's best. So it seems that adding vocals is both good and bad. Good in that the songs with vocals are great and really mark a step forward for Jimmy's music. And bad in that all the other songs without vocals seem less exceptional. Case in point: "The Outer Banks" or "Thule."
So, while this isn't as consistently great as his debut, it's miles ahead of his second album. Furthermore, it continues the trend begun with his last two phenomenal EPs, Seal Beach and A Lifetime or More. Maybe his next will be his masterpiece? Lavelle has said that while recording this album, he felt he was in "a safe place," hence the title. While that helped him comfortably take an exciting step by adding vocals to his music, he occasionally let this safe place produce safe music.
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