Lenses Alien, the result of collaborative explorations, is a stunning example of a band growing into itself -- learning to collaborate, becoming more confident. Why There Are Mountains, Cymbals self-released debut, was a record that Joseph D’Agostino made largely on his own, with help from Matt Miller and some other friends and acquaintances that came and went. Lenses Alien is a record that Joseph D’Agostino, Brian Hamilton, Matt Miller, and Matthew Whipple made together, as a band. At its core, Lenses Alien is a marriage of classic pop forms and ambient haze that makes for a stark, dusky psychedelia.