The Luyas

The name of the Luyas' latest full length is incredibly telling. On the one hand, the Montreal-based band's new record is full of insanely well-crafted pop experiments, but each of its ten gems is so gorgeous that they practically demand immediate repeats, threatening to disrupt the album flow completely. The opening title cut bustles with busy prog-jazz keys, but the band whimsically wraps the math equations up in swoon-worthy strings and chilled-out beats. Though there's a slow-building tension to "Tiny Head," its wobbly guitar effects and Jessie Stein's gentle, layered vocal patterns are no less trance-inducing; that is up until the track explodes into a junkyard jamboree of trashy cymbals and drum thumps. Stein's beyond youthful singing style anchors the set, whether crackling with innocence on the ethereal, New Age brass-and-flute led "What Mercy Is" or the lighting up the late-night lounge jazz of "I Need Mirrors," where, ironically, she pleads, "I don't want to be a little girl." Front to back, Too Beautiful to Work is enchanting. Just rest that repeat button-seeking finger of yours to soak it all in at once.