Parastrophics

Parastrophics may be Mouse on Mars' first album since 2006's Varcharz, but the duo's members were hardly idle during that time. Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner kept busy together and separately, and their restless creativity sounds especially fresh on this album's highlights. The textural interplay and mischievous avant-electro-pop for which Mouse on Mars is famed shines on "Metrotopy" and "They Know Your Name." Parastrophics' sound and approach is so unique -- and so essentially Mouse on Mars -- that St. Werner and Toma developed their own music software while making the album.