Electronic reinvention of ambient innovators

With perhaps a knowing nod to the fact that the collagist swirl and ambient space-blues of their 1998 classic eserter's Songs has permeated the DNA of modern indie rock, Mercury Rev again attempts to ascend from the squeaky-voiced masses, this time with a largely electronic approach. Reigned in at an elegantly dense 41 mins., it's a surprisingly natural and unassuming shift, anchored only by Jonathan Donahue's reedy and well-placed voice. While sonically, it's usually hard to find much that's new under the lysergic edge of electronica's pinkish strobing sun, the hypnotic quality of Mercury Rev's compositions, paired with vivid lyrical evocations (such as on the epic "Dream Of A Young Girl As A Flower") give this, the band's first album in four years, a depth and range worthy of its noble predecessors.

-Jeff Leven, Paste