Hush (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

Hush, huh? What a fitting album title, actually, given that Asobi Seksu’s third full-length doesn’t clobber you over the head with fuzz-encased chords so much as drift on by like cumulus clouds on a clear day. Whether this is a deliberate attempt to strip the shoegazer revivalist tag from the duo’s next press kit doesn’t really matter. Bits of second-hand My Bloody Valentine-isms pop up throughout 12 tracks that epitomize the term “dream pop,” including the ricocheting rain shower beats of “In the Sky,” the shock therapy climax of “Me & Mary,” and the swirling effects/lightly-treated vocals that turn the entire record into a layer cake listen, best consumed on a decent pair of headphones or home theater speakers. While it’s definitely subtler than Asobi Seksu’s other two discs — “Risky and Pretty” is downright ambient — Hush is hypnotic and hazy in all the right ways, a breath of cold air for the hot summer months ahead.