Grace/Confusion

Memory Tapes is one of the most relevant acts in chillwave, but soloist Dayve Hawk attempted to break barriers and get adventurous with his third album, Grace/Confusion. Here, Hawk expands on the usual dreamy, '80s-referencing sounds of the genre -- washy synthesizers, crystalline vocals, and lo-fi drum machine beats -- and goes to great lengths to avoid snappy synth pop structures. Instead, he takes a winding, prog rock approach to his pieces. As a result, most songs on the sprawling 39-minute album are two or three times longer than usual. Hawk explained in a press release that he was in a mixed-up place while recording, expressing doubts with the new direction of his project by promising a return to form on his next release. This feeling of confliction embodies the album. Select copies of 2009's Seek Magic demonstrated just how far Memory Tapes could stretch when given free rein with a 22-minute bonus track, and the schizophrenic Grace/Confusion shows signs that Hawk might rather be