Rock and ambient music might as well reside on opposite sides of the galaxy, so it's almost shocking when a band like Deerhunter melds the two so effectively. For the past eight years, Bradford Cox has built some impressive walls of sound with Deerhunter, but his solo project, Atlas Sound, is where he settles in to dream.
Armed with a toy box of electronics and acoustics, Cox engineers a change in mood on his latest album as Atlas Sound. Logos is considerably more upbeat than its predecessors, most notably in "Walkabout," which plinks along with chilly synths and a beat that's ready for radio. Animal Collective's Noah Lennox serves vocal duty, and the words match the song's linear flow: "Forget the things you left behind / For looking back, you may go blind." A snappy tambourine crackles along, while a winter chorus fills the background. Eventually, Lennox's warm breath melts the instruments away, in the process submerging the song in a sea of voices.
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