With each
Black Marble
album,
Chris Stewart
's music has gotten warmer and nearer to his listeners. On
It's Immaterial
, his melodies grew bigger and sweeter while holding onto the quintessential aloofness of his coldwave and synth-pop influences. The gradual thaw of
's music quickens on
Bigger Than Life
,
Stewart
's
Sacred Bones
debut. Where his previous album was literally a departure -- he wrote it in Brooklyn while planning his escape to Los Angeles -- this one is an arrival that celebrates his new life in the City of Angels. Since
wrote and recorded all of the album on his own, it could have easily sounded cloistered, but there's a feeling of reaching out on
that makes it special within
's body of work. As a singer and musician,
sounds more confident and more vulnerable than ever. Without the security blankets of echo and reverb that cloaked his vocals on his previous releases, his voice rings out when he sings "I'm just living more" on the title track and on "Call," the album's closing wish for intimacy. There's a greater clarity to
's sound as well, relatively speaking -- on songs like "Daily Driver," the hazy twinkle of his analog synths calls to mind sunbeams fighting their way through smog and glass.
also brings his audience closer with bittersweet, deceptively simple songwriting. On the standout "One Eye Open," the story of a restless tightrope walker echoes the way
teeters between intimacy and distance throughout the album. Similarly, "Grey Eyeliner" plays like a Craigslist missed connection set to song, hovering between mystery and approachability with a lilt that recalls
the Magnetic Fields
.
is at the peak of his powers on "Feels," where the oddly poignant hook "I used to have a radio show" expresses the need for connection that makes up the heart of
. His choice to reveal more and explore a feeling of belonging instead of sticking with the trope of the tortured, isolated artiste is one that pays off richly: With its surprising warmth and immediacy,
is some of
's most affecting music. ~ Heather Phares