Rubedo

Referencing François Truffaut's frequent protagonist in "Antoine Doinel," Rubedo strikes a somber and wistful chord early on with Kyle Gray's understated vocals, which recall the slight quaver of Mercury Rev's Jonathan Donohue. "Revelation of the Sun" is a roller coaster of intensity and tranquility, with a hint of Pink Floyd's abrasively psychedelic "Careful With That Axe Eugene" in the short screams of horrified self-realization toward the end of the song. The more conventionally structured "As Though Love Were Burning His Body" gives a sense of interrupted peace with an interesting mixture of jazz-like textures and countrified melody. The faintly luminous "Abaissement du Niveau Mental" ends things with a final crashing catharsis to resolve the album's tangled web of complicated and conflicting emotions.