Villagers

Part experimental indie and part '70s soft rock, Califone's first record in three years finds creative force Tim Rutili reaching new levels of harmony, fragility, and confidence. Whether detailing aging goths retaining their identity through year-long spooky decorations ("Halloween"), an imagined conversation with an inbred monarch ("Habsburg Jaw"), or the conflicts between identity and technology ("Ox-Eye"), Villagers' nine tracks spread out and luxuriates in the messy darkness of modern life.