With their fourth album, 2019's effusive
Violet Street
,
Local Natives
strike a pleasing balance between the promise of their kinetic debut and the atmospheric explorations of their subsequent follow-ups. Produced by longtime studio associate
Shawn Everett
, who has also contributed to albums by
Weezer
Lucius
, and
the War on Drugs
, among others,
is a strong album that feels more connected to 2009's
Gorilla Manor
than either 2013's
Hummingbird
or 2016's synthy
Sunlit Youth
. Still showcasing the yearning, falsetto-rich vocals of
Taylor Rice
, along with keyboardist/vocalist
Kelcey Ayer
, guitarist/vocalist
Ryan Hahn
, drummer/vocalist
Matt Frazier
, and bassist/vocalist
Nik Ewing
have grown into an ensemble that favors nuanced melodies and a textural group aesthetic over slick, commercially driven hits. There's an undercurrent of experimental dance pop here, as on "Someday Now," "Gulf Shores," and "Shy," which frame
Rice
's warm vocal melodies in spiraling percussion grooves, sweeping orchestral synths, and sundry guitar lines. Despite the group's experimental inclinations, there are still plenty of hooky moments here. "Cafe Amarillo" brings to mind a fertile combination of '90s
Wallflowers
and '70s
Boz Scaggs
. Equally catchy, "Megaton Mile" sounds like something
Fleetwood Mac
might have come up with if they'd been obsessed with
Gang of Four
. Elsewhere, the band evokes the soulful pop dizziness of
Jeff Buckley
on the midtempo "When Am I Gonna Lose You" and on the piano-driven ballad "Vogue." These influences imbue
with a new level of sophistication -- one that makes good on all that early promise. ~ Matt Collar