Gossamer Days

iTunes Review

The work of Dallas-based musician Todd Gautreau, Crushed Stars is his quiet bedroom sound brought to full, dynamic fruition with just the simplest of touches — a flute here, a trumpet there — to compliment the usual layers of keyboards and guitars. Gossamer Days recalls the hushed grace of Big Star’s Sister Lovers, the ‘80s Southern California Paisley Underground’s Rain Parade, the mourning anglo-pop of the Clientele and Trembling Blue Stars (and, therefore, Northern Picture Library) and the softest edges of Red House Painters, Iron and Wine and Ida (“Amherst Incident,” a sweet duet with Taylor Reed). Gautreau masks his voice in deep reverb, thickening it with harmonies and by hiding it under the mix, preferring to obscure literal meaning for the overall mood gestalt of “Life Until Now,” “In Parallel,” and “All Lovers Are Blind.” Gautreau’s success as an electronic artist with Sonogram and Tear Ceremony is evident in the instrumental textures that keep things at a relaxing pace.