Airiel aren't the most prolific band in the world, but when they do release something, it tends to be big and ambitious. Molten Young Lovers is only the Chicago-based dream pop group's second proper full-length since forming in the late '90s, and that doesn't include a four-part series of Winks & Kisses EPs, each of which contains an epic track hovering around the ten-minute mark. Like 2007's The Battle of Sealand, Molten Young Lovers is about an hour long, and with the exception of one slower, chorus-free mood piece ("Mind Furnace"), the songs are expansive and anthemic, expressing big emotions and filling the sonic canvas with vast, enveloping washes of sound and busy, propulsive drums. While the overall sound of the group seems chiefly influenced by British groups like Kitchens of Distinction, Ride, Swervedriver, and most likely the Stone Roses, Jeremy Wrenn's wistful lyrics and vocal style also bring to mind Bob Mould (in most of his many iterations), and songs like "You Sweet Talker" are a seamless mesh of British and American indie rock sensibilities. On tracks like the opener, "This Is Permanent," Airiel construct a heavy, voluminous wall of blown-out guitar feedback, but they don't let it overpower the rhythm section, and certainly not the heart-on-sleeve lyrics, which seem just as likely to resonate with fans of the 2010s emo revival as with lovers of indie pop and shoegaze. Apart from the more urgent, driving tracks, there are plenty of sad, sparkling ones, such as the heart-crushing sway of "Song of You" and the downcast drift-disco of "Cloudburst." Perhaps best of all is "Sharron Apple," a splash of ecstatic pop that peaks with a drawn-out "I love you" chorus. Airiel have never shied away from romanticism, but Molten Young Lovers seems like their most direct, passionate statement yet.
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