Red Velvet Snow Ball

iTunes Review

Pepper Rabbit’s sophomore album reveals subtler, more disquieting undertones, with strong hints of psychedelia interlaced between layers of twinkling keyboards and floating guitar lines. Singer Xander Singh takes on the character of a precocious child wandering through shifting fantasy scenes, capturing both delight and foreboding. Tracks like the buoyantly waltzing “Rose Mary Stretch” and the deceptively cheerful “Family Planning” unreel tales of discontent amidst quivering analog synthesizers and perky electric pianos. Antisocial sentiments add heft to the candyfloss textures of “Murder Room.” Towards the album’s conclusion — especially on “The Ballad of Alessandro Moreschi” and “Tiny Fingers” — the songs turn melancholy, suggestive of the darker dreams of Brian Wilson or Syd Barrett. While Singh and partner Luc Laurent sustain a sensuous, ear-catching groove in “The Annexation of Puerto Rico.” Without succumbing to preciousness, Red Velvet Snow Ball conjures up a naïve sense of wonder even as it suggests more mature emotions seething below the surface.