After 2017's Que Aura, a record where he pushed his sound to some oddball extremes, pop craftsman Kelley Stoltz takes a step back on Natural Causes, making pop music that's still left-of-center, but more relaxed and natural. The experiments (like synth pop and disco) of Que Aura have been integrated more smoothly into Stoltz's classic sound, leading to an album that's more accessible while still being a little experimental. Most of the album is happy-go-lucky jangling guitar pop, informed by Stoltz's love of classic new wave like Echo & the Bunnymen and made special by his knack for simple and sweet melodies. There's plenty of rambling garage psych and pretty folk-rock in the album's DNA, too. Tracks like the very pretty "Where You Will" and the title track sound like Stoltz at his low-key best, "My Friend" adds some spiky synths to the mix, and tracks like "Decisions Decisions" and "Are You an Optimist" make it sound like Stoltz may have been listening to some Nuggets collections lately. It's all warm and peaceful, like hanging out with an old friend while they spin some of their favorite old records. Only the space disco jam "Static Electricity" tweaks the mood and comes off a little forced thanks to the robotic vocals and almost generic synths. It's a minor stumble on an album that is otherwise as pleasant as a warm autumn afternoon spent lazing about in the fading sun.