YEASAYER

Fragrant World

[Secretly Canadian]

Brooklyn synth-poppers Yeasayer have always explored the quirky potential of keyboards. With its self-produced third album, the band drifts away from pop and focuses on the mechanical sounds of its instruments. If 2009’s Odd Blood was a reinterpretation of radio-friendly early-’90s pop, Fragrant World has a much more abstract feel. The songs have dense, lush arrangements, complete with thick programming and syncopated beats. The jerky rhythms don’t match the relentlessness of electronic dance music, but they’re more complex than those heard on typical indie-pop records. Still, Yeasayer maintains a sense of whimsy, incorporating subtle yet cartoonish effects and pops of acoustic guitar at unlikely moments. When Chris Keating treats his smooth, almost soulful vocals with electronic distortion, the effect is more robotic than Auto-Tuned, matching the clipped, halting rhythms. This doesn’t always make for easy sing-alongs, and it mutes the vocal acrobatics Keating is capable of, but it’s nice to see the band branch out. –Amanda Farah

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