Both Lights [CD]

Portland, Oregon duo AU have never sounded more alive, more vibrant and more human than on Both Lights. Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka have channelled their need for catharsis into the physical side of making music: the pleasure of connecting with real instruments; writing intricate, multi-layered songs. It makes their music immediately engaging, lending it a razor-sharp energy, even at its quietest and most contemplative. Both Lights, their third album, and first for The Leaf Label, is the closest their recorded incarnation has yet reached to the blissful force of an AU live show, both expanding outward in new directions and tightly honing their compositional abilities. The recording process for took nearly two years, and found them seeking an entirely new approach, beginning most of these songs as simple improvisations. It was a real process of letting go, says Wyland, A sort of subliminal shift into sounds and ideas that, at first, felt quite challenging. Rather than sounding like a tough record to make, Both Lights is striking precisely because it feels so animated, so triumphant.

• Format Detail: CD in gatefold Mirri board wallet
• Format: CD
• Genre: Indie & Alternative