Review: Aloha – Light Works

Aloha has followed up their outstanding 2006 album Some Echoes with a brilliant (and aptly titled) 7 song EP called Light Works. It has a dreamier and more sparsely populated feel than Some Echoes but retains the same light and airy indie-pop melodicism of that album. The songs are gently radiant and seem to fill every corner of this room with new light. Aloha seems to have perfected and refined these songs to a point where all extraneous elements have been discarded and all that’s left is everything that’s needed. It is an exercise in concise arrangements that culminates with the sparkling near-perfection of songs like “Passengers” and “Gold World.”

The EP plays like the melting of snow and the rebirth of the world after a long, cold, and precipitous winter; like spring is finally here. It is perhaps due to the seasonality of this post or songs like “Trick Spring” and “Equinox,” but there is a palpable sense of movement and growth from the beginning of Light Works through its conclusion. This is a fantastic and highly recommended EP that is out now on Polyvinyl Records.

MP3 | Aloha – Body Buzz Light Works