Artist: Starflyer 59 Album: Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice Label: Tooth & Nail Records Rating: 8 out of 10

Lush. Lush. Lush. That about sums up underground favorites Starflyer 59’s latest full-length, Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice. From dramatic strings to trilling organs to jangling tambourines, "Talking Voice" is a chamber-pop take on the music acclaimed (and Christian) indie-rock stalwarts Starflyer have been doling out with remarkable consistency for over a decade. Whereas last year’s I Am the Portuguese Blues offered fans the opportunity to hear a raw and bluesy “lost” record that recalled the group’s first few space-rock opuses, Talking Voice continues in the band’s post-Americana direction. Standouts include “Easy Street,” which which brings to mind early R.E.M. with its dark electric arpeggios and melodically-understated chorus, then throws in a mariachi-style trumpet solo for good measure; and “A Good Living,” which wraps a subtly-biting anti-capitalist message in a disarmingly-delicate tableau of strummy acoustics and liquid lead lines. For a couple tracks here, Starflyer mastermind Chris Martin also delves further into the 80’s-pop sounds flirted with on the band’s last few releases. The (relatively)-uptempo MP3 single “Good Sons” could be a hit in today’s retro-leaning rock climate with its cheeky synths and infectious chorus, while album-closer “The Longest Line” is driven along by over-processed, rolling drum beats and a positively-buoyant bass line. Clocking in at just 32 minutes, some might complain that Talking Voice is a little on the short side, and indeed it is by contemporary standards. However, the record’s near-flawless collection of nine stylistically-similar songs form a unified whole that recalls the days when albums were fat and filler-free. Leave on only the strongest stuff and save the rest for EPs and one-off singles it’s a motto Starflyer 59 have always made their records by, and one that many bands today could take a lesson from. Thankfully for long-time fans who will no doubt welcome this release with open arms the criminally-underappreciated Martin and his compatriots have yet to lose the plot. - Todd Thatcher