, the fourth album from Brooklyn-based indie/chamber/electronic trio , comes as a glacially slow step in the slow-moving progress that marked both their death-themed 2009 breakthrough album and its more electronica-leaning 2011 follow-up, . The nine songs here are sprawling pocket symphonies, longer songs brimming over with the horn arrangements that were just hinted at on previous work, if a little lighter on airy keyboards and -influenced dreaminess. Songwriter has always had a gift for storytelling lyrics that tend more toward tragedy than redemption, and a thick, somber vibe carries throughout much of , beginning with the brass section-powered lope of "Palace." Interplay between bright but distant-sounding horn sections and soft, simmering instrumentation makes every song a lush, glowing affair, recorded with a somewhat detached production that never allows for any one element to come too much into focus. This comes through with the same pastoral melancholia as on songs like "Refuge," while tunes like "Doppelgaenger" tend more toward an almost film noir jazziness. As with previous albums, are at their best when things in 's songs are at their bleakest, and the rock-bottom angst of "Hotel" is easily one of ' strongest, if its narrator's sentiments are troubled at best. The album's focus on horn arrangements and roomy, dreamlike production gives it a singular feel, one where listening through the entire album feels not unlike wading through a field of tall reeds as an inexplicably sad autumn day fades into twilight. ~ Fred Thomas