The Acorn – Vieux Loop

Despite summer being just around the corner, the fourth album from Canada's polite acoustic rockers The Acorn is apt music for hibernating to. All gentle brush sweeps and rattling guitar strings miked so close you can practically smell the wood, tracks like Rapids and In Silence evoke crackling fires and dark nights.

Soothing high pitched synths and tinkling keys make for natural additions to the band’s rustic sound but more surprising is the liberal use of drum machines and synth bass, marking a shift toward a compositional style that favours texture and repeated rhythmic patterns over traditional, voice-lead songwriting.

While the new emphasis on production makes for some memorable moments (one clipped-out drum flurry brings to mind fellow sonic tinkerer Phil Elverum), Vieux Loop feels a little melodically unadventurous at times, which combined with Rolf Klausener’s more abstract lyrical turns makes for an always pleasant album that can be hard to truly burrow into. [Andrew Gordon]