Miracle Fortress — Five Roses

You may know Montreal multi-instrumentalist Graham Van Pelt as a member of the increasingly popular Think About Life. Miracle Fortress is his other band, and Five Roses is their debut full-length.

Van Pelt has constructed some propulsive dream pop by carefully stacking layer upon layer of instruments and vocals with a meticulous attention to detail. It's kind of like Postal Service and the Beach Boys had a one-night stand and the result was illegitimate, but duly loved. Songs build from humble beginnings — a guitar riff, a lone synth note — and gradually snowball into something charmingly melodic, as evidenced by the adventurous "Little Trees."

There are a couple of instrumental tracks that the album could do without, because it's Van Pelt's romanticized vocals that hold his aural creations together. Still, they don't really take much away from this impressive first effort.

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