The ranks of Radar Brothers have greatly expanded for Eight. The lone original member, Jim Putnam, needed a larger ensemble to create these beautifully orchestrated tracks (which should elicit gentle comparisons to The Flaming Lips, among other psychedelically colored ensembles). Putnam called back bassist Be Hussey and drummer Stevie Treichel, who'd replaced the founding members on The Illustrated Garden, while adding Dan Lead on pedal steel, Brian Cleary on keyboards, and Ethan Walter on piano and synths. The effect is the trippiest Radar Brothers album to date. "Angler's Life" works over a basic hypnotic riff with harmonies that sound lifted from The Beatles' "Rain" and instrumentation that manages a variety of moods. "Bottle Song" takes a quick jugband tune and electrifies it, until it discovers another direction and reason for existing. "Ebony Bow" and "Horse Down" gravitate to keyboards, especially a Mellotron, to help warp the harmonized melodies and bring the grandeur that the songs deserve.