The Paper Raincoat's full-length debut

If you've been following this blog, then you'll know I've been eagerly awaiting this album. Long story short--I'm not disappointed.

Alex and Amber have obviously put a lot of care and thought into the whole package. The artwork is soft watercolor that fits their colorful, melodic sound to a tee, and the songs form a cohesive whole that tell a story. You can read that story in full on their Myspace, but you don't need it to appreciate the album. Really, it's the story of anyone who's ever arrived in a new place and struggled to make it a home.

If you take a look at the album on iTunes you'll see that it's categorized as a soundtrack, and that makes a lot of sense. From the sweeping strings that open the album on Right Angles to the triumphant closer It All Depends, the whole thing feels like the soundtrack to an imaginary film, and in a way it is. Alex and Amber set out to create a world with this album, and they've succeeded.

I would mention some standout tracks, but honestly it's a small album and everything is so good I'm finding it hard to pick favorites. Pretty much every song features beautiful harmonies (though they trade off on lead vocals from song to song), thoughtful lyrics, and creative, quirky instrumentation. The only one that falls slightly below the mark for me is Rewind, and that's not so much because it's bad as because the live version is just better. Without the coordinated clap-and-stomp percussion they pull off live, it falls a little flat. But overall, this album is a gem and it makes me smile. Don't miss it.