Yesterday, Calgary’s Chad VanGaalen released his newest album, Diaper Island on Sub Pop. I’ve been quite impressed and curious to see what direction the notoriously guarded songwriter will take which, in this case, seems to be somewhat more of an album of rock songs painted with his trademark dark restraint. Check out this song from the album, “Peace on the Rise” & the accompanying video.

Chad VanGaalen – Peace On The Rise

For three years now, we’ve watched as Beach House has gone from humble, subtly hypnotic Baltimore slack-key-core twosome to a fully realized and accomplished recording act. With the forthcoming release of Teen Dream on their new home label of Sub Pop, the team of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally will have completed a transformation that has allowed them to take on a new sense of direction in the music and in their lives.

Check out this track, “Norway”, from the forthcoming album & head over to Sub Pop for further details on the band and their new record.

Beach House – Norway

[Beach House at Sub Pop]

In a group of names like that, I might have forgotten about Chad VanGaalen except for he doesn’t let me. Thanks to an opportunity to catch him at the Sub Pop showcase at CMJ a couple of years back, I became an instant fan. His newest release, Soft Airplane continues his love affair with experimental noise pop and tender love songs, a pattern developed over the course of two other fine albums (2004′s Infiniheart and 2006′s Skelliconnection). The resonant difference is the maturity of the material & the confidence evident in the performance and songwriting.

Vangaalen’s gift has been to apply pressure only when necessary: to take dissonant arrangements and manically depressive subjects into his arms for a taste of sweetness. Thematically, it has always seemed to me, one of his central themes throughout all three albums has been death. On Soft Airplane, he doesn’t really stray too much from that mode; however, there is an unsubtle celebratory atmosphere around the subject which I found to be missing from his previous outings. Death is no longer merely an ominous figure hiding in the dark. He wants to, and wants us, to some degree, to dance with death as with a friend or loved one. On “Rabid Bits of Time”, VanGaalen’s chorus resonates his vision clearly: “No one knows where we go/When we’re dead or when we’re dreaming”, as if it were a song to be sung at the end of the universe while we ponder the destruction in our wake.

Oh, and one more thing — The easy comparison of VanGaalen’s voice and style to Neil Young are sincere and not merely cliched; they become even more favorable with this album, a comparison which is both complimentary and deserved.

Mixing tender acoustic ballads on death like “Willow Tree” and “Rabid Bits of Time” with the disaffected Casio-tone-laden indie rock of songs like “Bare Feet on Wet Griptape” and “TMNT Mask”, VanGaalen never ceases to fascinate himself (or us) with the process of discovery. For fans of Helium, The Shins, Built to Spill and others, you will find Soft Airplane both accessible and exceptional. It’s a confident, accomplished album of dream resonance worth hanging on for.

Chad VanGaalen – Willow Tree
Chad VanGaalen – Bare Feet on Wet Griptape

BUY: Soft Airplane from Amazon.Com [cd|digital]