Atmospheric pop trio School of Seven Bells — identical twins Claudia and Alejandra Deheza, plus guitarist Benjamin Curtis, formerly of ex-Dallas prog-rock outfit Secret Machines — released debut Alpinisms in 2008. It was a ghostly wisp of music, and its follow-up, this year's Disconnect From Desire, is similarly hazy. With its eddies of vocal harmonies and highly poetic lyrics about windstorms, ocean waves, and raindrops (Alejandra says her inspiration comes from lucid dreams), the album projects a feeling of trance and disconnect, as the title suggests.
But Disconnect has a much more solidified and substantive sound: The girls' silky vocals are stronger, and songs like "Heart Is Strange" and "Babelonia" are propelled by roiling bass and electronic beats. It's the kind of music you'd hear playing on some fantastic dance floor in the sky.
