If By Yes is, in the main, a collaboration of singer Petra Haden (that dog, Petra Haden Sings the Who Sell Out) and keyboardist/producer Yuka Honda (Cibo Matto, among others bopping around NYC), a project born out of nearly a decade of casual songwriting and friendship. Joined by a guitarist and drummer borrowed from Cornelius, the pair create dreamy, gorgeous pop music on Salt On Sea Glass. Honda’s lush soundscapes bring to mind Massive Attack with all the harsh edges gently rubbed away, and she often uses uncommon rhythms – the bossa nova of “In My Dreams” or the 6/4 of “Three As Four” – to give the tunes a purring, early-morning-sex flavor. It’s the perfect backdrop for Haden, whose voice is so adorably irresistible that the languid “Still Breathing,” the R&B-infused “You Feel Right” and the percolating “Shadow Blind” become as sensual as a perfect meal or a slow-burning sexual encounter. Other highlights include the melancholy exploration “Out of View,” the David Byrne duet “Eliza” (which also spotlights guest Nels Cline‘s lap steel moan), the wordless, keening ‘Adrift” and the stunning anthem “Night and Day,” which features Cline at his wailing best. Salt On Sea Glass is a textbook example of the good things that can come out of an organic collaboration based on shared aesthetics, mutual curiosity and friendship, rather than commercial potential.
