The Drums – Portamento

Following their critically-lauded debut of last year, Brooklyn trio the Drums seek on Portamento to cement their position as the foremost practitioners of melancholy, reverb-soaked indie rock. This record maintains the atmosphere of fragility that made its predecessor so compelling: a quality seemingly heightened by the departure of guitarist Adam Kessler between records. Days, in particular, has a spectral aspect that allows the strength of the vocal melodies to be foregrounded.

Other shifts in the group’s aesthetic are evident here: guitarist Jacob Graham contributes some analogue synth, lending proceedings an air of strangeness that underpins the quiet precision of the guitar lines. Overall, however, Portamento feels less like a departure or progression, and more like a subtle variation of the sound sketched out on the Drums’ debut. As such, it’s likely to win them even more fans: few other modern outfits can create pop music so haunting and distinctive with such basic and familiar tools. [Sam Wiseman]