Amelia

Someone should have warned Portland, OR trio Amelia that opening an album with a Spanish language song is a fool’s pursuit — you’ve got to win grumpy, impatient critics over, after all. But anyone with the fortitude and staying power to listen further will be beguiled by a swooning blend of Americana and Euro cabaret pop on their long-awaited third full-length, A Long, Lovely List of Repairs. Barely a whisper on lament "Farewell,” Teisha Helgerson’s emotion-drenched vocals soar and swoop in and out of the sprawling mid-tempo arrangements, which shudder and shake with electric piano, vibrato guitar, clarinet, Wurlizter and all manner of unexpected sounds (including the clever use of a Coke bottle, apparently). Delightfully sparse, occasionally too meandering and definitely over-long, the vulnerability of these 14 tracks is, on the whole, their strength. Only minor repairs are necessary.