Were it not for his big canvas collaborations, [Sea Wolf frontman Alex Brown Church would] drown in Bright Eyes comparisons (and his voice does suggest a kinder, gentler Conor). On the recently released White Water, White Bloom, his Los Angeles-based act doesn't just indulge in hyper-tracked strings, pedal steel and pump organs--it surrenders and receives the mercy of melody in return. Church may write like an English major--"You're the whispering kind/Dark sapphire blood/A vision of veils all shimmery white" is typical of his pastoralist métier--but he shapes songs like an orchestral pop savant. Continue reading...