Brooklyn’s Lowry creates resigned indie pop with hints of folk and electronica, blending quiet acoustic guitars, subdued banjo and hushed ambient effects. Frontman Alex Lowry’s plaintive, twee vocals on Love Is Dead should appeal to fans of Belle and Sebastian but do little to conceal lyrically sub-par moments such as “Baby, do you know what today is?/It’s my birthday, it’s my special day” and “No I won’t whore for you/The sugar tastes good but it reeks of glue.” Thus, the album’s strongest moments are carried by Heidi Sidelinker’s sweet and airy voice, which transforms many of the tracks from inoffensive, quiet pop into haunting lullabies. Her voice, unfortunately, only takes center stage at the album’s close, “The Road You Left On,” a sleepy crescendo anchored by echoey drum machines and distant synths, and by far the album’s best song. Such moments of beauty regrettably only call attention to the album’s weak spots: As Lowry is obviously capable of such remarkable songs, it’s unfortunate that most of the album consists of merely pleasant (read: unremarkable) rainy-day background music.
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