The World Is A Bell

London ensemble the Leaf Library offer a unique composite of ambitious post-rock, languorous drone-pop, and pastoral indie pop with classical and jazz inflections. Add their tendency for Motorik and Krautrock rhythms and occasional space rock bursts and youve got what would seem like a pretty full plate of music. In reality, what comes across on their lovely second album, The World Is a Bell, feels less complicated. Using deft execution and an intuitive sense of pacing, the band cycles through a beguiling set of ten lengthy, dream-like tracks that dazzle in their subtlety. Opening with a pair of deeply layered but ultimately accessible cuts, In Doors and Out Through Windows and Hissing Waves, the group utilizes repetition to build scenes that feel at once familiar and invitingly new. Behind the dulcet vocals of Kate Gibson and Melinda Bronstein, a spring tide of pianos, analog synths, soft guitars, woodwinds, strings, and a very nimble rhythm section construct an appealing world which is later upturned on the tumultuous 19-minute closer Paper Boats on Black Ink Lake. Although the band have been active since the mid-2000s, the bulk of their catalog thus far has been given over to experimental releases, singles, and EPs, with their full-length debut, Daylight Versions, finally arriving in 2015. In the years that followed, they offered instrumental and remixed versions of that album, as well as a series of EPs showcasing improvisations from individual bandmembers which were released under the Leaf Library banner. This tendency to deconstruct, then reassemble their songs elements adds a freshness when the full ensemble comes together like it does on this excellent set. ~ Timothy Monger