SoftSun, the intriguing outfit stitched together in ’23 by Gary Arce of the pioneering Yawning Man and the bassist/vocalist Pia Isaksen (of PIA ISA), unveils their sophomore full-length.

This time, the fold is completed by the percussive might of Robert Garson on the traps. To pin them down is a fool’s errand; the band seems quite happy experimenting wildly outside any neat box. Their sound is one of exquisite tension: soft passages collide with heavy distortion, beauty wrestles with outright noise, charting terrains that feel grand as well as intimate. The music is commendably patient, weighty, and utterly dreamy, featuring Isaksen’s vocals soaring over guitars soaked in reverb and fuzz, underpinned by drums…

The tracks unfold at a stately pace, channeling influences from the very landscapes the founders call home…from the baking Californian desert to the cold, magnificent sweep of the Norwegian fjords.

On this follow-up, SoftSun has clearly refined their vision, delivering a record that is at once brooding, adventurous, gorgeously melodic, and bracingly unvarnished.