Olenka & the Autumn Lovers

It's hard to talk about Olenka & the Autumn Lovers without having titular lead singer Olenka Krakus dominate the conversation. Her malleable voice, both warm and jarring, is the face of this six-piece band, and it's her Polish background that provides the source of the band's Eastern European influences, most notably in her lyrics. But it's equally difficult to imagine Krakus out of the context of the group or vice versa. Together, they sound more confident on this sophomore release, working as a single unit rather than as individual instruments playing together. Where in the past things were left a tad frayed around the edges, here everything is honed and reined in, emphasizing the record's formidable pop hooks. More than a simple folk album, And Now We Sing helps to further establish Olenka & the Autumn Lovers as a band with their own distinct voice.