A Shoreline Dream

A Shoreline Dream's debut full-length, Avoiding the Consequences, showcased a band exploring the breadth of dream pop with an immediately compelling sound. On Coastal, its latest effort, the act builds upon Avoiding's ideas with noisier backdrops and less floating-in-the-ether-style digital delay. The disc also exhibits a greater sense of urgency and a darker tone than you'd expect from an outfit so deft at crafting blissed-out epics. Coastal's finest moment is the song "New York": While the guitars could have been given greater prominence in the mix, as they are in a live setting, there's no denying the sheer force of the track. Overall, Shoreline's tasteful blending of down-tempo atmospherics with bracing, ethereal guitars and its keen use of low end are faithful reminders that the most interesting music rarely sticks to tradition.