Speck Mountain's 2007 debut, Summer Above, was a pleasant but indistinct set of spacey, drifting songs. The Chicago quartet's individual elements-- particularly the Hope Sandoval-ish vocals of Marie-Claire Balabanian and the syrupy bass of Karl Briedrick-- were solid. But there was something passive about the proceedings. Thoroughly relaxed and mellow, the album suggested that not only could Speck Mountain do this in their sleep, but they'd prefer to.
As Some Sweet Relief's opening tracks waft from the speakers, Speck Mountain seem content to continue that passivity. Agreeable melodies, swaying tempos, and reverberating chords float by, sprinkling sonic dust on your eyelids. That drowsy mood persists in the lyrics of track four, "I Feel Eternal". "Close your eyes/ Let your dreams pass my way," hums a meditative Balabanian. But musically, things have changed. With its bending bassline, chiming lead guitar, and horn-section accents, "I Feel Eternal" gives the album a gentle but tangible kick, one that propels the band forward the rest of the way.
This subtle ascension seems to come from an injection of soul. As Some Sweet Relief progresses, song structures lean toward the realm of spirituals and blues, and Balabanian's supine purr begins to feel more classic. You won't mistake Speck Mountain for a gospel group, but it's fair to say that, at least during the album's second half, they sound more like Spiritualized than Mazzy Star. Take the phasey organ of the aching "Backslider", which seems ghostwritten by Sonic Boom, or the slow croon of its partner track "Backsliding", whose staircase-climb has a distinct Jason Pierce tint circa "Shine a Light". It all leads to another sharp peak, "Twinlines", whose simple chorus-- "Oh, how long," delivered in a pretty Balabanian moan-- belongs distinctly to this band.
Speck Mountain still have some distance to travel before they fill an album with such moments, so that whenever you hear their music, you think of them first rather than their influences. But this is only their second full-length, and it's a solid step in that direction. Though they seem dedicated to their musical equivalent of lying on the grass and looking for shapes in the clouds, there's no law that says mellowness can't reach as high as energy-- especially when, as with Speck Mountain, it's permanently aimed towards the sky.
