Internal Drone Infinity

While Living Hour have always operated at a stylistic crossroads, mixing dream pop with psychedelia and shoegaze with angular indie rock, they expand their boundaries even further on Internal Drone Infinity, the Winnipeg groups fourth album. It ventures into straight-up noise on the brief first track, "Stainless Steel Dream," whose electro-staticky opening transforms into a languid lo-fi alt-rock before finally cranking up the amps and stomping on the distortion pedals -- a little appetizer of the broad indie spectrum to come. Its an unexpected crash-boom-bang introduction to their Keeled Scales label debut, an imprint known at this point for its artful indie folk clientele. Having said that, one of the highlights here is the ambling, nearly six-minute "Texting," a drawling, stream of consciousness lo-fi/folk-rock track that taps into the constant drone of anxiety of modern times, as captured in scenes from the road ("a hotel laptop screen reflected by another one," "Little Caesars to-go cup"). That song is part of the more slowcore-oriented closing third of the album, but that section is preceded by songs like the trippy and fuzzy "Best I Did It" (about facing mental illness head-on), the lush and driving "Wheel" (about buying a car off of a social-media marketplace), and the rollicking "Big Shadow," which combines elements of shoegaze and classic power pop. The through-line is a constant discontentment expressed through lilting melodies and cracking vocals by singer/lyricist Sam Sarty, as well as a volatile sound palette that includes the sighing, out-of-tune cacophony. As for its long-term outlook, Internal Drone Infinity closes on the resigned, group-sung fireside tune "Things Will Remain," which contemplates the certainty of death and tectonic shifts. ~ Marcy Donelson