Alvvays – Blue Rev (Blue Marble Vinyl)

Toronto indie rock quintet Alvvays releases a wonderfully layered and detailed new album five years after "Antisocialites"!

The Canadian band has never been better than on the 14 tracks of "Blue Rev" co-produced by Shawn Everett (Adele, Kacey Musgraves, The Killers). There are aggressive moments here again - the joyous and growling guitar solo at the heart of opener "Pharmacist" or the explosive cacophony in the middle of "Many Mirrors." Other moments captivate with pure beauty - the church organ fantasy of "Fourth Figure" or the blue-skies bridge of "Belinda Says."

The power and magic of "Blue Rev" lies in Alvvays' ability to bridge apparent opposites and fuse elements that seem at odds - cynicism and empathy, anger and levity, harmonies and dissonance.

The radiant farewell song "Velveteen," the lovelorn confusion "Tile by Tile," the panicked but somehow reassuring rush of "After the Earthquake" - the songs of "Blue Rev" live from their immediacy and complexity, which directly grabs you so much on the first listen that subsequent run-throughs, in which you want to hear and experience all the details, are inevitable.