On their 2016 debut,
Now That We're Gone
,
Canyon Spells
-- a fuller, richer incarnation of a group formerly known as
Daniel & the Lion
-- occupy a space between introspective folk and insistent alt-rock. Even when the riffs get fuzzed up or the rhythms surge, there's an inherent gentleness to the trio's music, one that doesn't derive entirely from the harmonies of
Jimmie Linville
and
Michaela Thomas
.
write songs that play like murmurs and whispers but they color in their tunes with layers of harmonies achieved by guitars, voices, and other instruments, an approach that gives the record an appealingly spacy shimmer. Occasionally, there's some muscle behind this glimmer -- and there are also some good, solid bones -- but
operates at its peak when it's sustained on the surface. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine