After her acclaimed 2009 debut,
Start, Restart, Undo, it took three full years -- largely spent on touring and international promotion -- for
Ana López (in art
Anni B Sweet) to put together her sophomore album.
Oh, Monsters! shares the dark melancholy of
López's debut, but while it retains her whispery folk ("Locked in Verses," "Hole in My Room") in places, it also confidently attempts to expand her sound with dream pop ("Getting Older"), electronica ("Missing a Stranger"), and even rock ("Ridiculous Games 2060"), often coming closer to
Radiohead's territory -- or at least
Bon Iver's -- than
Cat Power's. Produced by Guillermo Galván (
Vetusta Morla), Ángel Luján, and the singer/songwriter herself,
Oh, Monsters! was mixed by Phil Vinall (
Pulp,
Placebo,
Radiohead). ~ Mariano Prunes