Storyboard

Originally slated for wide release last year but held back by unforeseen complications with a prospective label relationship fell through, this promising full-length debut from Edmonton quartet Storyboard is finally available outside of the group’s home town. Packed with wave after wave of lush, reverberating arrangements that are at once fragile and densely layered, an expansive and confident shoegazing exploration of how sound fills the space between your speakers. It’s not hard to imagine why Storyboard have garnered comparisons to acts like Radiohead and Sigur Rós as front-man Nano Uribe’s high, lamenting sustains float on a sea of echoing guitars and tumbling string arrangements on standout tracks "Dole Morrow” and "This Is Fade.” While they seem most in their element when given the space to lay a groundwork and build to a noisy crescendo, the group also show some range on more conventionally structured pop songs like "Offering Seventeen” and "Cold and Dark” that, removed from their context, could easily be mistaken for Band of Horses or Guillemots if they came up on shuffle. An impressive first effort that is worth seeking out.