Static & Silence
This British act, led by Harriet Wheeler, was always one of the more uplifting members of the shoe-gazer crowd, a point emphasized here by lovely lead single "Summertime" (which was released at precisely the wrong time of the year, sadly). The five-year hiatus from their last album has created a more mature, strum-along sound best heard on "Homeward," the guitar-textured "Another Flavor," and the orchestral "She." As for Wheeler, she's enchanting even when singing a track called "Monochrome."--Jeff Bateman