Sun Airway's Jon Barthmus drowns his sentiments in reverb. Synthesizers burp, gurgle, and explode. Beats make loud, shattering noises. Underneath all this lies a singer/songwriter who shows sympathies to Sweden's Jens Lekman, New York's Interpol, and even Australia's Go-Betweens, with rich melodies yearning to break forth. "Black Noise" spreads out with a production far more generous than the bedroom recordings on Sun Airway's debut, Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier. A string quartet has been sliced and diced by computer-aided production techniques, and the orchestral fanfare of "Symphony in White No. 2" certainly benefits from deeper pockets. "Activity"—whether version 1, 2, or 3—provides an interesting breakpoint, but the instrumental intermissions do little to change the course. Barthmus works up a synthetic lather that's smart pop music after all the bells and whistles have subsided. A tune like "Laketop Swimmers" might seem out of focus—with Barthmus struggling to be seen among the violent tides of keyboard washes—but it's there, and headphone listening will get you there.