The transitional fourth studio outing from the Rhode Island-based indie folk collective led by co-founders Jeff Prystowsky and Ben Knox Miller,
Eyeland is the culmination of a nearly five-year journey that began with Prystowsky purchasing and eventually turning Providence's moth-eaten Columbus Theatre into a haven for artists and musicians via a popular recording studio and live concert hall. Lofty, eclectic, and spilling over with ideas,
Eyeland effectively puts to bed the bucolic Americana of 2009's
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin and the minimalist,
Dylanesque troubadour-ism of 2011's
Smart Flesh. Instead,
Low Anthem mine the surreal narrative and auditory proclivities of early-'70s progressive rock and post-
Kid A-era
Radiohead, offering up a heady, psych-tinged conceptual piece that's often as knotty and impenetrable as it is thrillingly inventive. Coming in at just under 45 minutes,
Eyeland is awash in ambient sound effects, from chirping birds to churning, synth-fueled vistas, which results in its most stripped-down moments, like the breezy soft rock reverie "In the Air Hockey Fire" and the lovely "The Pepsi Moon," delivering the most immediate thrills. ~ James Christopher Monger