Compared to the duo that made their debut back in 2007, the
Lightning Dust
of 2009's
Infinite Light
sound just a touch gentler, more meditative, and smoothed out around the edges. Their sophomore full-length is full of sleek string arrangements (especially on
"Dreamer"
) and graced with a heavy handful of computerized drumbeats and reverb effects; in other words, it's just as stark and strange as the duo's debut, only more elegantly dressed.
also sound quite a bit like
the Handsome Furs
on this release -- something that can be chalked up to a combination of gritty synthesizers, oily drum machines, and lead singer
Amber Webber
's hungry croon. As on the duo's first release,
Webber
is the main attraction here. She sounds haunted. She sounds like
Chan Marshall
with a Gatling-gun vibrato. What's more, her voice is the perfect complement to
's theatrical, darkly glimmering compositions. This is especially apparent when
Joshua Wells
, the other half of
, sings with
on
"Honest Man"
; his voice sounds awkwardly normal in juxtaposition to
's caterwaul. (To be fair,
and
Wells
probably sensed this;
is the only track that features
' vocals.) What makes
an intriguing project is how devilishly, drippingly weird they are, and they spend most of their time on
playing it up. From slinky-sinister numbers like
"Take It Home"
"Never Seen"
to single-worthy rockers like
"I Knew"
"The Times,"
shows that
haven't lost any momentum since the release of their self-titled debut. ~ Margaret Reges