3 out of 5

Label: Thrill Jockey

Producer: Brian Deck

So I was warned going into this that it was soul music.  I’m curious what I would’ve thought on a cold listen.  It’s not so far outside of the Thrill Jockey realm – Brian Deck’s gorgeous production gives it a sheen that matches the label’s mix of electro /groove and post-whatever stuff – but the lyrics might’ve tipped me into brushing this off as a Beckish Midnight Vultures wicky-wonky experiment.  I’m glad I gave it a few further spins, though, because there’s some incredibly rich compositions here, and as the Allmusic review suggests, lines about making love and nigh-cheeseball examinations of the female form work because the execution feels legit – this isn’t a pack of kids making a cheeky soul album, rather some dudes (Neil Rosario and Andy Cunningham) making an actual soul album, albeit informed by a Chicago indie background.  So it works best when that’s in full effect.  The 10+ minute opener ‘Making Love (in the Natural Light)’ is an amazing epic of a song, working in layers and layers of gorgeously restrained oohs and aahs and keys and guitars and drumming while repeating its main mantra.  The tracks that follow this restrained yet flourished balance definitely win me over, and serve as a reminder of why I used to pay attention to Brian Deck’s production, because it’s the same balance he would bring to the Califone stuff, this sense that the kitchen sink is just around the corner but he’s keeping it all taped down, opening up the sound only when it serves the song.  These songs also tend to be the ones that, to me, are most easily pigeon-holed as ‘soul’ songs, there being a defining groove and head-bobbing vibe.  It’s the other tracks – which, for better or worse, make up the majority of the album – that sound more like regular Thrill Jockey acoustic stuff… and bring the outing into the norm – pretty, but fairly flat and unremarkable.      (LIKE YOUR MOTHER I GUESS)

‘Dekkagar’ apparently went under the production knife for like 500 hours.  The smoothness that results from that is apparent everywhere, but only about half of it leaves you curious for more.