MASS GOTHIC (DLCD)

Vinyl LP pressing includes digital download. After nearly ten years as the creative force behind much-loved New York rock outfit Hooray For Earth, Noel Heroux had lost his way. "I was constantly cutting corners and phoning everything in," he says. "I was super depressed. I was creatively frustrated. I was emotionally unavailable to the people I really, really wanted to be there for-and no matter how much I cared, I just couldn't change. But when I realized that I needed to the end the band and just try again, my head cleared and the clouds parted. I'd been derailed somehow," he adds. "So I allowed myself to return to the beginning." The result is an expansive, often exhilarating set of guitar-driven pop that required very little editing when it was done. Additional mixing was provided by Chris Coady (Beach House, TV on the Radio) with mastering done by Greg Calbi (Father John Misty, Tame Impala) at Sterling Sound. From the iridescent doo-wop of "Every Night You've Got to Save Me" to the skyward crescendo of "Mind is Probably" to the falsetto-streaked clatter of "Want to, Bad," it's a radiant retelling of Heroux's starting over, with "Nice Night" as it's cathartic, electrifying centerpiece."