Are You Alone?

Audio Mixers: Tyler Fitzmaurice; Tyler Crawford; Matthew Otto.On Are You Alone?, Majical Cloudz pick up where the exceptionally beautiful Impersonator left off two years prior, and issue more sparse arrangements of hypnotic, minor-key electronics under plaintive cries and intimate observations, like a subdued, post-apocalyptic offspring of the Blue Nile. The album begins like a dust bowl sunrise, with plunking, distorted piano tones, and Devon Welsh's calm, covetous vocals on the loss-pervaded "Disappeared" ("Those that forever disappeared/All I want is for you to talk to me"). It's impressionistic, almost Debussy-like but with fewer notes, and eventually saxophone and the soft sounds of rushing water. "So Blue" instead offers misty accompaniment via cathedral-like organ and choral voicings, though manufactured-seeming and amalgamated with spare percussion to futuristic effect. The song also features strings and additional drums by Owen Pallett, adding warm textures to the humming, har