THIS IS ALL PRETEND

Fans often take offense when their favorite artists evolve and too often fail to see the truth behind the evolution. Take Memphis, TNs Pillow Talk, whose first full-length slips further into the dreamier, blearier sound they established on 2015s What We Should Have Said and adds to it more synthetic soundscapes. Produced and engineered by Matt Talbott of Hum fame, This Is All Pretend feels like a band who has reconstructed itself, having found something and lost nothing. Thematically, these songs are about letting go to once was and determining how to continue. Singer Joshua Cannons lyrics came in fragments over a two-year period that saw his grandmothers declining health take a toll on his family. Magnified by private battles of self-abuse and a dissociation from everything and everyone around him, his relationships eroded as he looked for a path back to the innocence of childhood. The idea of letting go influenced the bands musical evolution as well, and is evident on songs like Sorry In My Mind, where auto-tuned vocals adorn each verse, slithering alongside the synth lead that seems the weave through the songs strutting beat. The auto-tune is clearly for effect (Cannons soulful alto needs no correcting) and reappears throughout the record, though somehow add more soul to the record. So much of This Is All Pretend feels like a natural progression for Pillow Talkin fact, the dizzy throb on Between the Frames and opener Monogamy feel like they could have appeared on What We Should Have Said or even 2014s Recreational Feelings. Still, its clear the band has shed its skin and embraced an evolution that has helped them express their truthwhich wont take long for fans to see, no matter how offended they seem.