MIE record label welcome back Trouble Books...
The follow-up to 2012’s well-received ‘Concatenating Fields,’ ‘Love at Dusk’ finds the Ohio-based husband/wife duo of Keith Freund and Linda Lejsovka further developing their enchanting approach to songwriting, one which juxtaposes highly detailed sound design and synthesis techniques with beguiling pop sensibilities. After a brief but labyrinthine opener, ‘Profile of Woman in Silk Hood’ blooms seductively into being, with Lejsovka’s vocals set adrift over an a bed of constantly evolving synths that surround a driving bassline and propulsive drum machine arrangement. It’s simultaneously airy and dense, abstracted and familiar – and it’s a prime example what makes the Trouble Books sound so unique and arresting. Later, ‘Unfolded’ conjures a plaintive atmosphere from panning oscillations and a hopeful piano refrain.
The instrumental masterfully navigates a space between optimistic and chary, a tension which plays out throughout the record and encapsulates well the feelings of excitement and uncertainty that characterize pregnancy and childbirth (Lejsovka was pregnant with the couple’s first child during the gestation of the album). With ‘Love at Dusk,’ Trouble Books present what is arguably their finest work to date, an album of songs that feels both honest and matured and wears its influences (both musical and lived) proudly on its sleeves.
Trouble Books are Keith Freund and Linda Lejsovka. The album was mastered by James Plotkin. Artwork was designed by Jacob Feige.
Release date: November 18th / Buy it!