The Canadian-American alt-prog collective's fifth full-length outing,
Grace Street delivers a heady mix of the accessible and the labyrinthine; a smartly structured, skillfully executed set of left-field radio hits with cosmic aspirations. Anchored by
Ian Thornley's mellifluous voice, which pairs the elastic falsetto of
Coldplay's
Chris Martin with the seismic power of
Peter Gabriel, the 13-track LP, despite its nearly 70-minute runtime, never forgets that strong songwriting is the fulcrum on which even the most adventurous run or clever time or key change finds equilibrium. Whether it's the knotty "Tomorrow Down," with its propulsive backbeat and
Floyd-meets-
Zeppelin chorus, the funky,
Stones-ian "You Don't Even Know," the goose bump-inducing acoustic ballad "Useless," or the ripping lead single "One Good Piece of Me," the latter of which is a perfect rendering of soaring alt-rock and
Asia-inspired pop smarts,
Grace Street has a little something for everyone. ~ James Christopher Monger