Athens, Ga., chamber-pop dreamers Venice Is Sinking have always been more notable for their ideas than their execution-- well, until now. Azar, the band's intriguing 2009 LP, included four instrumentals that suggested an almost-there guess of what Christian Fennesz might sound like collaborating with Sigur Rós. Those themes came wound around a half-dozen ornate rock songs. Thick with strings, horns, and keys and resting on beats that pushed just beyond mild-mannered, those numbers were barely but consistently off. Maybe they were a tad aggressive here or loaded with a few too many parts there, or perhaps some were just strangely mixed, but the most brazen thoughts on Azar seemed lost in transit.
The concept of Venice Is Sinking's latest, Sand & Lines, gives immediate pause: A 10-song edit culled from five days of live 2008 recordings at the venerable Georgia Theatre. It's the sort of idea that suggests this band will try to do too much, to push decent songs beyond their carrying capacity. And Sand & Lines is naturally loaded with auxiliary horns, strings, singers, and percussionists. The organ-and-footstomp march "Bardstown Road" is played by 16 people, for instance, with drummer Lucas Jensen left only to conduct the big band. Despite the numbers and the presumptions, though, Sand & Lines is marked by thoughtful reserve at every turn. Both carefully arranged and edited, its 10 tracks comprise only 38 minutes. Just as it doesn't overstay its welcome, it doesn't tax these tunes, either. Sand & Lines treats its 10 songs as canvases for moods, where the focus is feeling and essence, not ornamentation or precision.
"I think we're liking it pretty well up here," someone says off microphone at album's start, just before the band eases into the drifting "Sidelights". The recording is warm and tender, with reverb and gently scattered vocals enhancing the sense that the band really is in the next room. The no-overdubs policy suits Venice Is Sinking well, allowing both the songs and the well-considered parts-- the vocal glissandi of opener "Sidelights"; the neon keyboard and guitar flashes of "Falls City"; the soaring string drama that bisects the terrific "Bound by Violets"-- appropriate spotlights. The flourishes feel just right, too: Despite its crowd, the sleigh bell click of "Bardstown Road" feels perfectly understated beneath a chanting choir. "Lucky Lady" gets loud, sure. Captured in the mostly empty and cavernous room, though, it's a gentle if insistent sort of rock'n'roll. Think the Clientele, daydreaming.
Sand & Lines is simply a case of good songs receiving their proper treatments: "The Grey Line" is an illusory, lonely travelogue captured perfectly by Karolyn Troupe's fragile voice and the band's steady rises and falls. Frontman Daniel Lawson nails the nervy romanticism of Galaxie 500's "Tugboat", his voice drifting with sweet unease. When the band finally launches into the closing solo, they nuzzle the edge of anxieity perfectly. Similarly, Venice Is Sinking handle "Jolene" with thematic care. The slinking, sexy bassline sashays around a violin that sighs and sobs, the song's darkness pushed to the threshold of a murder ballad. Its slow burn is enough to conjure the flickers of a candle.
Despite its elegance, Sand & Lines likely won't turn Venice Is Sinking's national indie profile into a skyrocket. It's a comfortable, subtle suite of one-take songs, captured live in an empty room. If you're looking for a quick fix or an MP3 to share, Sands & Lines will vex with patience. In today's instant buzz cycle, maybe this sort of a record is a fool's errand for a band that did generate a modicum of attention with its last LP. But that last record was fussy and overworked, anyway, and this feels-- firmly, fortunately-- like new and assured footing.
