Odd Blood

iTunes Review

On their sophomore release, Brooklyn’s Yeasayer seem to be trading in their rich, earthy vibe — redolent of dust and fire and distant, desert sunsets — for a sleeker, more synthetic tone. Where All Hour Cymbals conjured all-night musical sessions, smoke- and sitar-inflected in the best way, Odd Blood is more about the secret room in the back of the club, the one open to only the most connected of hipsters. Leaving the Eno/Byrne Bush of Ghosts influences behind for something more akin to techno-pop, there are songs here ready-made for radio (in a braver world), such as the catchy, centerpiece single “Ambling Alp,” the glistening “Madder Red,” and the atmospheric “I Remember” (imagine Eno making power ballads for radio play).  Bookending those songs, and buoyant, dance floor tracks like “O.N.E.” and “Love Me Girl,” the band sidles up to art-rock with the sinister and spindly “The Children,” and closing tune “Grizelda,” a sparse, polyrhythmic kaleidoscope, giving the collection an experimental sheen. Odd Blood is a logical progression for Yeasayer, though some may miss the general otherworldliness that colored All Hour Cymbals so vividly.