Having embraced a sunbaked '70s Laurel Canyon vibe on 2019's
Violet Street
,
Local Natives
turn up the vintage heat with 2023's soul-infused
Time Will Wait for No One
. Produced with
John Congleton
Michael Harris
, and
Danny Reisch
, the album certainly evokes the sultry, post-hippie soul and soft rock of artists like
Boz Scaggs
and
Robbie Dupree
. That said, the record never feels retro. On the contrary, even when the band drape themselves in the dreamy synths and fretless bass grooves of "Featherweight" (a song that wouldn't sound out of place on a
Peter Gabriel
album of the '80s), the results have a contemporary edge. It's a balance the Los Angeles band have been striking since breaking through with 2009's
Gorilla Manor
, the album that introduced their rhythmically kinetic brand of harmony-driven indie rock and drew comparisons to both classic groups like
the Zombies
and contemporary acts like
Fleet Foxes
. Here, they continue to blend sounds, conjuring a bit of late-'60s orchestral psychedelia on "Just Before the Morning" and diving into the fizzy, early-2000s post-punk romanticism of "NYE." There's even a jazzy, progressive quality to the group's multi-part harmonies, as on the opening title track and the sultry "Empty Mansions." If anything, singer
Taylor Rice
's burnished falsetto and knack for wavering, languorous melodic hooks has only gotten better with age. Somewhat improbably, cuts like "Empty Mansions" and "Just Before the Morning" evoke a wild mix of combinations, like
Jeff Buckley
covering a
D'Angelo
song, or perhaps
Radiohead
taking on
Boyz II Men
. All of this is an enticing and pleasing evolution for the band and one they sustain throughout
. ~ Matt Collar