ANATHALLO > Canopy Glow

Michigan’s art-pop septet Anathallo has decided to pull back ever so slightly from the avant-garde leanings of its label-debut, Floating World, in favor of something a bit more accessible. Gone is World’s album-spanning Japanese folktale, told over the din of glockenspiels, foot stomping, and many, many tempo changes.Label: ANTICON
[Rating: 3 STARS]

Michigan’s art-pop septet Anathallo has decided to pull back ever so slightly from the avant-garde leanings of its label-debut, Floating World, in favor of something a bit more accessible. Gone is World’s album-spanning Japanese folktale, told over the din of glockenspiels, foot stomping, and many, many tempo changes. Instead, Anathallo opts for a generally more subdued experience on Canopy Glow. And when Glow busts out the bells and whistles-and bust them out it does-it does so with a bit less pretense. “The River,” the slow-building track from which the album draws its name, even manages to rise out of the muck of “artistry” and into the realm of real, epic, rock and roll.