Unmap

Anyone thinking that Volcano Choir are going to be anything like Bon Iver's FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO just because Justin Vernon is involved is in for a bit of a shock. Yes, Vernon's otherworldly vocals grace most of the songs on UNMAP, but there are no real songs to speak of, no hushed backwoods folk grandeur or heartbreakingly soulful sounds. Instead, Vernon and his friends from the post-rock band Collections of Colonies of Bees have crafted a defiantly experimental album that relies on Vernon's vocals as just another color in the paint box, not the main focus. The tracks are largely free-floating post-rock jams that drift and flow without great purpose but often sound intensely emotional, as Vernon's massed vocal overdubs join together in a hurricane of sound. The group also proves adept at conjuring up the dreamy, almost dancy post-shoegaze sound of A.R. Kane or diving headfirst into the kind of atonal modern composition Scott Walker favored in the 2000s. The album reveals Vernon has not only the desire to branch out but also the necessary skills.