7. Are You Alone? / Majical Cloudz

Our private thoughts do not make a sound.  The inner dialogue that no one hears, not even our most trusted companions, is impossible to capture in music.  But Majical Cloudz' spellbinding album comes close.  Ethereal and arresting, Are You Alone? reveals the secret world of Montreal-based singer Devon Welsh, and it often sounds like we are listening in on poems only meant for someone else, too intimate for third-party ears.

Welsh and instrumental collaborator Matthew Otto teamed up in 2012, setting out to create avante-garde electronic music to support Welsh's confessionals.  Lyrically, Welsh is unusually economic, favoring straightforward statements over elliptical allusions.  With his steady baritone front and center, and Otto's stark soundscapes framing his voice, Welsh's songwriting is perfectly suited for late-night or early morning drives, when the only interruption will be your competing thoughts. Listener's subjective experiences will largely determine whether the introspection hits home, of course, but Welsh's lyrical canvas includes such broad-brushed descriptions of heartbreak, friendship, regret, faithfulness, and sorrow, it would be surprising if his words do not find their mark.

The spare, minor-key electronica enhances the record's disquiet, although there are also moments of unfiltered love that break through the instrumental washes of silvers, grays, and whites.  The accompaniments are subtle and nuanced, but always cinematic, rising and falling for dramatic effect, and with stylistic shifts so seamless throughout the record, listeners may not initially appreciate the piano, saxophone, organ, marimba, and choral voices that interplay with Otto's electronic arrangements.  Touchstones for the duo's originality are difficult to pin down, with the likes of Depeche Mode, Blue Nile, and Mercury Rev only hinted at during specific moments.

I was floored by the emotional directness of "Control" when I first heard it on the radio sometime in October.  The other tracks are just as striking, resulting in moving, chill-worthy experiences.  The record's dialogic nature encourages listeners to take part in the conversation and, ultimately, make it their own.