Tamaryn: The Waves

Label: Mexican Summer

The Waves sounds like the last shoegaze album ever, an expansive coda that finds airy mournfulness in seas of guitar and vocals that open up like a desert sky. Tamaryn's namesake singer, a New Zealand ex-pat now living in San Francisco, has a special voice: feminine yet woolen and full-bodied, a sound that merges with the sweeping guitars dramatically and which carries the album's tone so well it'll practically break your heart. "Haze Interior" might be the most accurate song title of the year, with the awakening, semi-hopeful vibe of "Dawning" following suit. But The Waves is one of those album's that saves the best for last: The closing "Mild Confusion" rings out, the guitar stabbing upward while Tamaryn herself holds the vocal center, raising goosebumps and hopes for another record soon. (M.L. Thrope)