Metallic Falcons

As mysterious and engaging a debut as you could hope to hear, Desert Doughnuts is a confounding work of hushed elegance and subtle beauty that will continue to haunt you long after it’s come to an end. The two ladies behind it — Sierra Casady of CocoRosie and Matteah Baim of Voodoo-EROS — call themselves Metallic Falcons and label their music "soft metal,” but before you start flashing nightmares of Journey or Dream Theater, consider that the hushed vocal interplay that dominates Desert Doughnuts sounds as though it were recorded in a church or cathedral, accentuating the holy and peaceful feeling resonating throughout the strange compositions. When guitar does appear, it sounds as though it’s churning, threatening to overtake the proceedings, but settling instead. Adding to the mystic proceedings is a veritable frontline of players: Antony (without the Johnsons), Jana Hunter, Devendra Banhart and Greg Rogrove (of Tarantula A.D.). Though music like this is wholly personal and in a league of its own, Metallic Falcons manage to avoid the pitfalls some other astral-traveling mystics like Cerberus Shoal and Tarantula A.D. throw themselves deep into, as they opt for shadowy delicacy where others try to hard to impress.