CD of The Week

Philly's Sun Airway had all the reason in the world to stay in their previously established sonic hemisphere. Their 2010 debut Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier was a slick swirl of shimmering synth-pop ambience and radio-ready indie rock. Through timing and circumstance alone, it bridged the gap between the Phoenixes and Animal Collectives before it and the Neon Indians, M83s and, well, Animal Collectives after it. Rather than complete the musical mobius strip, the duo have set their sights even further skyward on their follow-up, Soft Fall. Having already exploded their chandelier the first time around, Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill have successfully, meticulously put it back together to reflect brighter, occasionally better lights and textures for the world to see.

It was obvious on last year's stopgap single "Wild Palms" that Sun Airway had more tricks up their sleeve, with its cinematic string swells and ever escalating bridge harmonies that didn't even bother to break for a chorus. That song is wisely reprised here (as is its New Ordering b-side "Symphony in White No. 2"), and it's joined by a number of subtly scintillating equals. "Close" is a skittering delight that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. There's even a synthetic guitar squall that recalls the climactic saxophone of "Midnight City." "New Movements" and "Laketop Swimmers" are softer and more languid, but no less single worthy. The latter's looped backing track sounds like Coldplay's "The Scientist" produced by Bjork. Speaking of the former, while Jon Barthmus' vocals sometimes lean a little too close to Chris Martin territory, he manages to sell it with elegantly nuanced lyrics like "You’ve never known loneliness before because you’ve never been alone with my love."

Sun Airway don't always stick the landing. A few of the "Activity" interludes sprinkled throughout the tracklist distract, particularly right before the cyclical splendor of closer "Over My Head." But even when Soft Fall does in fact fall, it does so with the same grace and attention to detail that makes its hits reach such celestial heights. It's as if they fall simply to pick themselves, and us, back up again.