RITUALS (LP)

Double vinyl LP pressing. Other Lives, which includes Josh Onstott and Jonathon Mooney, remain focused on the search for audible clarity: their next expression, their next melody, their next rhythm. Rituals, the band's third and 2015 full-length album, is a pure encapsulation of the trio's relentless drive for precision. Ambient soundscapes ("New Fog") buttress against prog-rock stomp ("2 Pyramids") lending the album the experience of embarking on a choose-your-own-adventure novel. "There's kind of a duality to this record," Tabish says, referencing "Pattern" - "rhythmically kind of up-tempo, really fast-moving, marimbas, this new kind of new-wave orchestra sound" - in opposition to the closing title track, a slow-building, piano-and-strings-anchored ballad Tabish wrote in the finals weeks of recording.