CD of The Week

A Sunny Day in Glasgow are a band that have learned to thrive in separation, in disconnect. Their 2009 high watermark Ashes Grammar, one of the finer and more underrated albums of its kind in recent memory, came to fruition during the departure of original members Brice Hickey and LaurenandRobin Daniels. The new, ostensibly permanent lineup that followed holds half a decade later, but with various members scattered across Australia, New York, and of course hometown Philly. The recording process for this year's Sea When Absent was an even more disjointed affair. The full band was never in the same place in the same time, and thus many songs had to be started in one location and finished in another via Skype or email. Ironically, the result is the group's tightest, poppiest effort to date.

Whereas past albums from the group would sprawl and swirl for several tracks before spontaneously cohering into conventional melody, Sea opens with a triumphant trifecta of would-be singles. The martial beats of "Byebye, Big Ocean," My Bloody Valentine blast of "In Love With Useless," and mesmeric bloom of "Crushin'" not only form the most powerful opening statement of A Sunny Day's career, but reveal a sonic wanderlust befitting a band located all over the map. The latter song could almost pass for a Solange jam. This versatility and variety could come at the cost of consistency if not for the more prominent vocals and purposeful lyrics of Jen Goma and Annie Fredrickson, who oscillate between Cocteau Twins' swoons and Grimes' sighs with ecstatic ease, anchoring sounds that could drift away in less capable bands' hands.

The rest of the record manages to maintain this introductory high, if not quite surpass it (choppy, chirpy closer "Golden Waves" comes close, though). Never content to rest on their shoegazing laurels, A Sunny Day in Glasgow have reached for the stars and once again succeeded in exuding light, warmth and beauty, like the sun itself. Said beauty is also far more tangible this time around as well. Despite perennial absence, this band has never sounded more present. And they will be very present in fact while on tour this month, culminating in a hometown appearance on July 27th at Johnny Brenda's.