Villagers [Emerald Green Vinyl LP]

Califone - Villagers [Emerald Green Vinyl LP]

Part experimental indie and part '70s soft rock, Califone's first record in three years finds creative force Tim Rutili reaching new levels of harmony, fragility, and confidence. Whether detailing aging goths retaining their identity through year-long spooky decorations ("Halloween"), an imagined conversation with an inbred monarch ("Habsburg Jaw"), or the conflicts between identity and technology ("Ox-Eye"), Villagers' nine tracks spread out and luxuriate in the messy darkness of modern life.

With 25 years of Califone in his catalog, the Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based Rutili knows well how to find that moment of awe and bliss even as things are falling apart. Surrounded by a variety of hyper-talented collaborators including longtime cohorts Ben Massarella, Michael Krassner, Rachel Blumberg, and Brian Deck, as well as Nora O'Connor and Finom's Macie Stewart, Rutili has always excelled at luring listeners through elusive lyrics and flashes of shadow and image coming together in disarming unity.