Death and Vanilla - To Where The Wild Things Are (Fire Records)

This Swedish duo first captured my fancy with their “From Above” single, as sublime an example of dream pop as anything released in 2013. Imagine Air combined with Ennio Morricone, and you start to get an inkling of the musical vein these talented musicians are mining. Their creamy, dreamy music floats by like a summer breeze, even while it worms its way into your brain with spidery skeins of silken pop. Indeed, the band is aptly named. Formed in Malmö, Sweden by Marleen Nilsson and Anders Hansson, Death and Vanilla use vintage musical equipment such as vibraphone, organ, mellotron, tremolo guitar and moog, to emulate the sounds of 60s/70s soundtracks, library music, German Krautrock, French Ye-ye pop and 60s psych. Listen to them kick it on album opener, “Necessary Distortions”, a stunning distillation of Air and Stereolab married with the band’s unique brand of synth pop. It’s rather like a sonic kitchen sink, with all sorts of cool sounds thrown into the mix. Like the sound of a marble rolling across a table (“Follow the Light”), or tinkling bells and sparkling chimes. “The Optic Nerve” is your personal gateway to heavenly oblivion, shooting you straight into orbit.

While you float in the ether, “Arcana” tethers you slightly with its gently wafting sonic passages, and “California Owls” unfolds in childlike precision with its gilded tones. “Time Travel” is another gorgeously hazy song as it plumbs that vintage 60s vibe the band excels at. “Follow the Light” rolls in on well-mannered waves, but then the album’s whole mood shifts with the unsettling “Shadow and Shape”. Its disquiet is hardly out of character for a band that scored a live soundtrack for the horror film Vampyr. The instrumental “Hidden Reverse” sounds like something The Raveonettes might record, with its creepy surf sheen. “Moogskogen” is chilled and downtempo, and album closer “Something Unknown You Need to Know” seems to layer different soundscapes at its beginning, from a throbbing synth line to a music box melody. Almost like having multiple, self-contained miniature symphonies happening concurrently. It is nothing like the other songs and far more experimental than the other songs, hinting at the future direction this group might follow.

In summary, this is a swooningly beautiful release that will satisfy current fans and draw in new listeners enamored of artists like Broadcast, Julee Cruise, and United States of America. Look for it online or at your favorite cool record store.