Maria

Though Maria was only Pale Blues second album in eight years, the wealth of singles and EPs Mike Simonetti and Elizabeth Wight released after The Past We Leave Behind kept them vital and responsive to issues ranging from domestic abuse to the COVID-19 global pandemic. On the love songs that make up Maria, however, the duo make the most of their unrivaled skill at creating a world of their own. Simonetti builds his productions around the vocals Wight sends him, lending an intuitive flow to Pale Blues tracks whether theyre forcefully moving the dancefloor or spinning dreams. Some of Marias finest moments do both: "Spells" captures the thrill of a sublime connection, echoing Wights hazy remembrances of how time seems to stop with a kiss in its rising and falling pulse. Similarly, "No Words" explores the sensual possibilities of closeness and space, as well as the power of body language, with its jacking house beat and mesmerizing vocal counterpoint. Pale Blue are just as expressive when they use their transporting powers to examine loves shadow side. They dig into power dynamics over slinking grooves on "The New Year" and face the end of a relationship with bittersweet grace on the standout "Dive," where shifting, Reich and Glass-inspired polyrhythms telegraph the changes that Wight must accept ("its hard to dive when we dont know whats under the water"). Though Pale Blue has always borrowed from styles outside the world of dance music, they make pop and rock traditions their own with extra flair on Maria. On songs such as the buoyantly independent "Together Alone," Wights use of spoken word connects the duo to the drama of 60s girl group pop and to the post-punk poetry of Sonic Youth. Their savvy use of pop touchstones -- yearning, harmony-laden choruses, a shooting star synth solo -- on "Laura" results in a lustrous song Beach House would be proud to call their own, but still sounds unmistakably like Pale Blue due to its house music backbone. The pair took inspiration from classic rock albums for Marias sequencing, and its artful pacing allows room for moments like the cavernous centerpiece "Ice Is Falling," which recalls Nico in its frosty restraint, and "The Last Song," an epic finale that evokes M83 or the Jesus and Mary Chain as it gives listeners a moment to catch their breath after the albums soul-searching. Thanks to Wight and Simonettis instinctual chemistry, Maria delivers some of Pale Blues most kinetic and affecting music -- and suggests that they can go just about anywhere from here. ~ Heather Phares