Atmospheric indie duo
Azure Ray established the template for their darkly dreamy sound early on, making a series of highly influential albums shortly after their 2001 formation that were beautifully lush yet intense and foreboding. Co-founders
Orenda Fink and
Maria Taylor's distinctive approach to tightly arranged vocal harmonies and whispery arrangements evolved slightly and the band's activity slowed down significantly as the years went on.
Remedy is
Azure Ray's fifth album, and their first full-length release since
Drawing Down the Moon, which preceded it 11 years earlier. Stylistically,
Fink and
Taylor are in a similar place as they were when they began over 20 years earlier.
Remedy is largely made up of gently delivered folksy songs where acoustic instruments and restrained performances build subtly as light electronic elements twinkle in the mix like fireflies. "Bad Dream" begins with murky synthesizers and understated electronic drums, with soft verses opening up into a gliding chorus. Live drums, piano, and auxiliary synth sounds are introduced so gradually around
Fink and
Taylor's catchy harmonized melodies that they seem to appear out of nowhere. The same happens with the melancholic acoustic guitar-led title track and the swaying, dream-like "29 Palms." Throughout the album,
Azure Ray explore a variety of approaches without ever veering off course, to the point that no track stands out radically from the rest. The 808 drum hits and warbly organ of "Phantom Lover" are wildly different from the sheets of reverb and rushes of pedal steel on ambient folk track "Grow What You Want and How Wild," but these songs and the rest of the album are glued together by
Fink and
Taylor's telepathic harmonies and well-established songwriting chemistry. The quiet intensity that gave the band's early material its shadowy smolder has mellowed somewhat here. The songs don't overtly mention growing older and wiser, but there's an overall sense of maturation and hard-earned control throughout the album. Their growth up to this point has been slow and steady, but what's remarkable is how outside of time
Azure Ray's music remains. While there are moments on
Remedy when the duo seem a little more comfortable or at home in their own skin than on previous efforts, they're still navigating life's rocky seas in a way that's as heartbreakingly beautiful as it was in their first songs. ~ Fred Thomas