I’m listening to the this album whose name I am too lazy to type out (wait… I almost typed out the same amount of characters I would have needed to anyway just now. Oh well). I momentarily forgot I was sitting in the foyer of a small rental home in Columbus, Ohio.

Read the name of the band, Led to Sea, and you might be intrigued already. I was.

I was further intrigued when I saw their location and genre. An indie classical/folk band from the Pacific Northwest? Sounds like a recipe for success. Lofty expectations were pushed by stellar releases from other chamber folk/classical releases from Timbre and Plumes, from Nashville and Montreal respectively.

Fortunately for you, and for this writer, Led to Sea is meeting these expectations. Maybe the novelty of this genre still has yet to wear off, but whatever – I’m enjoying this.

The nice thing about defining yourself as an indie classical/folk band is that you can take many liberties with your songwriting. Want to indulge in a sing along? Go ahead. Want to insert some viola plucking that sounds oddly like the xx (see “Knifethrower”)? Do it! Want to toe the line between slightly eerie and beautiful on an instrumental track? By all means.

An album like this is something I want to see in a small, aptly decorated room (though I can’t put my finger on exactly how I’d like the room to be decorated). A house? Too small. Too comfortable. The music is borderline uncomfortable at times. It’s also oddly therapeutic, so nothing terribly bland or sterile either.

I also really want to listen to this on surround sound. Darn it, I’m almost done with this review and I haven’t done that yet. There’s even a system in my living room!

Oh well.

One last thing. Did I mention that this is technically a solo project? The brainchild of Led to Sea, Alex Guy (not a guy, actually) came up with this record with the help of producer Jherek Bischoff (who has worked with David Byrne and Amanda Palmer). Do you know who else makes classical inspired pop music and has lots of badass collaborations? Sleeping at Last. Is it too early to call Guy the female Sleeping at Last?

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Score: 4.4/5

Led to Sea: Facebook | iTunes