Valet

Naked Acid is an album inspired by "the Pacific Northwest landscape, semi-conscious dream states and the idea of one’s DNA code being accessed as eternal memory,” says Portland artist Valet (aka Honey Owens). And while these obscure claims of inspiration may not make tons of sense in print, on record they become a bit more understandable. On Owens’ follow-up to last year’s Blood Is Clean, this vocalist/guitarist/sound manipulator immerses herself in a hypnotic patchwork of ambient flower child electronics, dusty blues lines and nonchalant vocal murmurs, instilling her album with otherworldly, back-to-nature-type energy. Most often, this all comes across beautifully, such as on "We Went There,” the album’s opening duet with Adrian Orange, and on electro-tinged closer "Streets.” However, some of the loose, freeform structures demand a certain degree of patience, as they tend to wander a bit aimlessly without any substantial payoffs. Nevertheless, in the right frame of mind, Naked Acid has a way of sucking you in, even if it’s difficult at first.