Should – Like a Fire Without Sound (Words On Music)

The sound of Should has always tended toward the delicate, but on Like a Fire Without a Sound, the popgaze duo has crafted a record so gossamer and sedate as to be almost fragile. Marc Ostermeier and Tanya Maus croon calmly over tinkling, echo-laden guitars sprinkled gently on rhythms so subtle as to be barely there. It’s nearly too precious for words, so swooningly pretty as to almost induce sugar shock. And yet, there’s a melancholy undercurrent running through “Awake at Night,” “Always Returning” (which needs neither words nor vocals to get its point across) and “Slumberland” that keeps the songs from becoming so ethereal as to become ghosts haunting their own record. “The Great Pretend” even adds a bit (but just a bit) of pep to the proceedings. Like a Fire Without a Sound is nice in the nicest possible way.

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