#gravity blanket

The album opens with its most immediately gratifying songs. “Bad Idea” has a sunny, flowing melodicism that eases the listener into Gravity Blanket’s dense, detailed soundworld. “Careless” chugs along with fuzzy, palm-muted guitar that bursts forth into strident lead lines. “Mt Olive” offers similar catharsis, breaking out of its gentle, see-sawing acoustic guitars into a cacophony of saxophone and electric guitar. At their core, many of the songs are accessible and easy on the ear. Elsewhere, “I’ll See You Around” expands Becker’s palette into queasy, King Krule-style jazz, with some delicious, Thundercat-esque bass flourishes. To counterbalance the lush production on many of the other songs, “Midair” is pared back to guitar and voice, “Sinking” to synth and voice. “Nerve” climaxes with distorted vocals that contrast markedly with the calming coo Becker deploys elsewhere.

One criticism of Becker’s approach is that he tends to generate interest via his colorful, dynamic arrangements, while vocally he can get stuck in a rut, resorting to a word-dense rhythmic delivery that doesn’t offer much in the way of memorable vocal melodies. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of ear-candy across Gravity Blanket’s tracklist to keep the pop-hungry listener sated.