Wintersleep - Hello Hum

Unlike most bands looking to refine and polish their sound, each successive album from Halifax indie rockers Wintersleep gets a bit more raw, a touch more direct. Since their excellent, Juno-Award-winning 2007 album Welcome to the Night Sky, frontman Paul Murphy and band have expanded their artful if rough-hewn style of alt/rock from ringing anthems with progressive arty overtones to a dense, occasionally distorted sound that bristles with buzzing energy and electronic undertow. New Hello Hum (June 12, Rollcall) again pairs the band with co-producer Tony Doogan (Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai) along with Dave Fridman (Flaming Lips) on the mix, each of the bandmembers contributing to the songwriting and arrangements while Murphy adds the lyrics. Lead single (and video below) "In Came The Flood" charges out of the gate with a steady gallop, layers of ricocheting guitar riffs (think of The Edge covered in grime) stacked up against a murky bed of electronics and drummer Loel Campbell's percussive firepower. DC fave "Zones" carefully loads up the grand stage for a solid sonic ass-kicking on a majestic scale.

Wintersleep - "Zones" (from the album Hello Hum)

Wintersleep - "Nothing Is Anything (With You)" (from the album Hello Hum)