Album Of The Week: Tinashe Aquarius

There are so many good new albums coming out this week -- from Ex Hex, from Steve Gunn, from Zola Jesus, from Vashti Bunyan -- but this week still turned into a two-horse race between Tinashe's Aquarius and Caribou's Our Love, two exceptional pieces of work. The hardest thing about that decision: those two albums fit together so neatly that it feels like a shame to pit them against each other. Caribou's Dan Snaith is a longtime indie fixture who came to dance music late in life, and Tinashe is a former child actor and a young entertainment-industry veteran. Their backgrounds are nothing alike, but they've still crafted two remarkably similar albums, albums that make a lot of sense when played back-to-back. They're both warm, lush, considered albums, albums that use electronics and open space to conjure these soft, expansive, luxuriant moods. And they're both emotional albums, albums about love, about inner turmoil and contentment and longing and satisfaction. They've got similarly smart and understated ideas about melody. Caribou's "Second Chance," could've fit seamlessly onto the Tinashe album. The decision wasn't easy, but it really came down to this: Our Love is an album of tracks; its moods and momentum hinge on tiny fluctuations of rhythm, and climaxes can come when a little bassline drops into the track for the first time. Aquarius, by contrast, is an album of songs, of verses and choruses and bridges and all that good stuff. I tend to like songs better than tracks. Must be the rockist in me.