For Their Love

Album review

The fourth full-length effort from the Oklahoma-based indie rockers, For Their Love finds Other Lives in fine form, applying their moody sonic expertise to a spectral ten-song set that parses themes of self-worth and existential dread in an age of political, social, and economic turmoil. Commencing with the ruminative "Sound of Violence," a sumptuous bit of '60s-leaning orchestral pop that evokes the Wally Stott string arrangements of "Montague Terrace"-era Scott Walker, For Their Love was self-produced in Oregon's Cooper Mountain region in frontman Jesse Tabish's A-framed cabin, and the material mostly reflects that pastoral setting. The group's love for sharp Morricone-worthy guitar stabs and ascending choral vocals is evident throughout, with the sinister "Nites Out," a churning sea of orchestral bombast worthy of a 007 action set-piece providing the biggest bang for the buck. The plaintive "Dead Language," with its high and lonesome harmonica and fluttery piano, filters the group's widescreen vision through more of a portrait lens, but it retains its predecessor's classicist '60s cinema vibe, as does the more sprightly title track, which incorporates bursts of loungey bossa nova into its distinct, anglophile-kissed brand of chamber-Americana. For all of its adherence to in-the-moment takes and attempts to dial back some of the studio chicaneries of earlier outings, For Their Love is still almost alarmingly ornate -- some of that might have to do with the omnipresent cathedral-like reverb -- but much like 2015's similarly outstanding (and elaborate) Rituals, there's really never a dull moment.

© James Christopher Monger /TiVo