Shakey Graves (a.k.a. Texas native Alejandro Rose-Garcia) changes things up on his fifth album, Can’t Wake Up. Whereas past albums leaned more towards a straight forward folky roots rock vibe, Can’t Wake Up explores a more atmospheric and cinematic sound. Here the 13 tracks showcase Rose-Garcia’s meld of Americana roots music with elements of dream pop, dance rhythms, electric guitars and sonic effects beats and vocal effects alongside themes of entrapment, family, metaphysical and social/psychological issues. Standouts tracks include: the melodic “Counting Sheep”; the anthemic “Kids These Days”; the tongue-in-cheek “Dining Alone”; the Elliott Smith-esque “Mansion Door”; the vaudeville tinged “Aibohphobia”; and the jangly closing track, “Tin Man.” Can’t Wake Up moves Shakey Graves more into the direction of bands like Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens and Conor Oberst while landing on a signature sound of his own, and the results are stunning. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Conor Oberst, Dawes, Langhorne Slim, Shovels and Rope