Breach

It’s strange that a band with a core of only three members would evoke the sounds of sprawling acts like the Polyphonic Spree and the Arcade Fire, but that’s exactly the kind of magic that Danish trio Kissaway Trail pull off on Breach. Elaborate and rhapsodic, the songs here feel like tiny, self-contained films that all happen to start right at the peak of the dramatic tension, as though you were flipping the channels on the television and every station happened to be playing that scene from Say Anything where John Cusack is holding up a boombox blasting some Peter Gabriel. Balancing this out is a dreamy murkiness, providing just enough uncertainty to Breach that it doesn’t race forever upwards like an emotional rocket. This feeling doesn’t bring the album down so much as it gives it a kind of blurry soft focus that allows Kissaway Trail to simply drift from time to time rather than push on. Breach is an album that’s easy to get swept up in, playing out like a wonderful dream that allows the listener to drift from moment to moment without necessarily questioning what’s happening or why they’re there. And even though Kissaway Trail aren’t exactly breaking any new ground here, Breach is executed with enough beauty and feeling that the lack of innovation is pretty easy to forgive. If, however, you’re looking for an album that will allow you to let go and float away without over-thinking it too much, Breach has what you need.