Windy and Carl - We Will Always Be (Kranky)

We Will Always Be, the newest album by the long-running duo of Windy and Carl, can easily be summed up in one word: unhurried. The Michigan duo has been making music for nigh on two decades, and this, their first album in three years, shows that they’ve not lost their touch. “For Rosa” opens the album, with a strumming acoustic guitar and the lovely vocals of Windy Weber, a gentle introduction that, at three minutes, is relatively brief and quickly engulfed by what they do best: atmospheric drone passages that envelop the listener’s senses. In this, they excel, and it’s the beauty of songs like “Spire” and “Nature of Memory” that win over new listeners and bring back the faithful followers. Really, though, everything on here is of equal beauty and value, as We Will Always Be makes no demands of the listener’s ear. Windy and Carl simply want to give the listener a gentle, mind-relaxing experience, and, as always, they accomplish this goal quite masterfully, creating some of the most beautiful music you’ll hear this year.