The String and Return - "Invisible City"

Album review by Mark Cuthbertson

Invisible City is a richly layered, yet subtly understated soundscape. The three guitars (or sometimes two guitars and a keyboard) are precise and distinct without approaching disjointed, busy or flashy. All of the tracks are dreamy, anticlimactic meanderings ("Locked In," "The Rut"), but about half of them have a little more energy and stir things up a bit ("Lemon Slice," "Flyweight"). Mike Myers pounds the skins just intensely and tastefully enough to keep the songs moving forward and preserve the spaciousness of the band's sound. Andrew Ashby's breathy vocals are a perfect fit musically, and the morose lyrics aren't obvious enough to make every listen a downer. This stellar work by this all-star group earns four and a half out of a possible five revelations (buy this album if you don't own it already).

To find out more about this band, visit their website at thestringandreturn.com.

--Mark Cuthbertson
mark@thezone.org