In my daydreams, I feel nothing

Kaleidoscope - Purplespace
When I Signed Your Yearbook - Purplespace

I wrote about Purplespace a few months ago. At that point I had heard only a couple songs off A Tiny Little Spark (eMusic) but was quite excited. Since then I picked up a copy and that initial enthusiasm has been well borne out.

I described them before as "Vaguely shoegaze, just a bit electronic, gauzy dreampop - this is music that makes you want to stare at the stars..." And that still seems perfectly accurate. The only real thing I would add is that the record is one of those that takes on additional textures when listened to as one coherent chain of songs. While you might be tempted to write them off as a one-note act, the depth of the music and the subtle ways that they play with sound are really given a chance to shine here.

The vocal harmonies all the way through verge on perfection. To be sure, it's a different kind of harmonizing than, say, The Beach Boys or folks of that ilk. While that sort of work tends to soar, Purplespace is much more about the way that voices can merge and sink into you.

"Kaleidoscope" sounds exactly like its name implies, while "When I Signed Your Yearbook" dances quietly through your subconscious, leaving traces of memory about lost loves and hidden smiles. "I Needed You" is more straightforward, evoking a beautiful, stubborn hope. And lest you think the record is entirely filled with fey whispers, there are tracks like "Artificial Symmetry" which don't exactly rock, but which demonstrate that they are quite capable of taking their songs out on the open road. And the record closes with "November 17th," a collection of meandering spoken dialogue that drops in and out, overlaid onto soundscape of electronic clicks and swirling synths. It's nothing revolutionary, just very well executed.

A Tiny Little Spark is a record that makes you feel an immediate closeness. It's one that you'll want to spend a lot of time with. And it is definitely among my favorite albums of 2009.