School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire

(Full Time Hobby)

They’re the best band to feature identical twins since Bros. They recall another great set of pop twins: The Cocteaus. They’re New York’s otherworldly School of Seven Bells, and Disconnect from Desire is their second album.

SVIIB’s 2008 debut, Alpinisms, rightly captured many hearts with its 4AD dreamscapes and astral psalms. The trio’s follow-up is a bit alienating: there’s a surge in electro and a gloss in production – and alt.pop’s current fascination with New Age (especially Clannad) is evident – but this is enchanting all the same. Shoegaze carousals ‘I.L.U.’, ‘Windstorm’ and ‘Babelonia’ enthral; as does the prog-taunting ‘Heart is Strange’.