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Barnes and Noble

Big Picture

Current price: $15.99
Big Picture
Big Picture

Barnes and Noble

Big Picture

Current price: $15.99
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Size: CD

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When wrote the songs for her sophomore album, 2020's , during a self-imposed period of isolation, she couldn't have known that the COVID-19 pandemic was soon going to force that hand. Following a stretch of being unable to write, the follow-up, , was eventually penned haltingly over the course of two pandemic years, a time span that coincided with an ill-fated relationship ultimately tracked in real time through her songs. There's a similarly delicate, melancholy sigh to as to its predecessor, despite a new production team ( and herself) and its in-the-moment inspirations. She sets the stage with "Map of Japan," whose sultry, midtempo twang, active bass, spare drums, vibraphone-style Mellotron, and breathy vocals could pass muster as a tribute to . That band is a fitting reference point for the hazy, ruminative zone of , which was mixed by 's and has occasional gritty electric guitar interjections, including on this song. The album goes on to offer a range of dreaminess, arguably reaching its lushest and loudest point on the jammy outro to "Superglued," its liveliest on the appreciative, post-breakup "Lights Light Up" (though there is a case to be made for the jaunty but fatalistic "Pick"), and its sparsest on the brittle, comfort-seeking "Henry," which still features a full band. The musical contrasts aren't far-ranging, however, and similarly, even the most optimistic lyrics seem to be biding time ("I guess we don't really know what we're looking for/'Til we have everything and still want more"). ends at what seems like the middle of the story, on a train home to her partner ("I made no promises that I would stay, but I'll try") on the atmospheric "Half Finished," whose quiet shimmer, echoing multi-tracked vocals, and not-so-quiet woolly effects are ultimately suffocating. ~ Marcy Donelson

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Barnes & Noble does business -- big business -- by the book. As the #1 bookseller in the US, it operates about 720 Barnes & Noble superstores (selling books, music, movies, and gifts) throughout all 50 US states and Washington, DC. The stores are typically 10,000 to 60,000 sq. ft. and stock between 60,000 and 200,000 book titles. Many of its locations contain Starbucks cafes, as well as music departments that carry more than 30,000 titles.

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