For their sophomore album, Telefon Tel Aviv (duo Joshua Eustis and Charles
Cooper) have magically blended skittered beats, lush melodies and moving
vocals.
The opening track recaps the sounds and style of Fahrenheit Fair Enough
and foreshadows the soulful, expansive and lush sounds that comprise Map of
What is Effortless. The tracks continue through flat-out dancefloor on “My
Week Beats Your Year,” moving soulfulness on “Nothing is Worth Losing That”
and even hit Sigur Ros territory with the layered
wall-of-sound-guitar-crescendo epic “What it Was Will Never Again.”
The album features Damon Aaron and Lindsay Anderson (of L’Altra), who
provide vocals on six of the nine tracks. TTA have done an excellent job of
incorporating these vocals into the music by using treatments on the vocals
and treating them as part of the structure of the songs. The group also
brought in the Loyola University Chamber Orchestra to add to the lush
melodies throughout the album.
How much did the group’s move from their New Orleans home to Chicago (also
home to Hefty Records) have to do with their new output? I’m not sure.
Regardless, the result is fantastic.
Map of What is Effortless is OUT NOW on Hefty Records.
