CD Review

With Lost and Safe, Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto of The Books turn in another loopy-dreamy collection of melodic narratives made up of snippets of found noises, spoken-word samples and acoustic instrumentation that carries on the “read, eat, sleep … repeat” theme of their first two albums.

This time, though, they’ve added subdued vocals that complement and sometimes even harmonize with the electronic elements. The vocals are indeed a worthy addition, but what really digs into you are the crisp, ear-teasing sounds and voices from elsewhere that generously season and soar above the band’s understated singing and instrumental elements. For instance, on “If Not Now, Whenever,” we get singing interspersed with disconnected voices that eventually pile and swirl on top of one another until the voices are conversing in a dramatic, loping round of white noise chatter. And then, they’re gone, leaving behind a man who dejectedly reports, “I can’t find the books; they must be in La Hoya.” It’s this sort of melancholy-meets-cheekiness that really sets the tone of Lost and Safe.

Other stand-outs on the album include “An Animated Description of Mr. Maps” with its thundering percussion (get yourself a good set of headphones for this one) and “Vogt Dig for Kloppervok,” which starts off with a man reading from Lewis Carroll’s Jabberwocky. There’s even a bit of a Pinback vibe on “None but Shining Hours,” the song most likely to get stuck in your head with its lyrics that mumble softly into your ears and chugging rhythm layered over plinking guitar and more electro-noise.

Overall, the word for Lost and Safe is interesting – and not in an if-you-can’t-say-anything-nice-don’t-say-anything-at-all sort of way. The bulk of it demands and holds your attention. It’s an album – or a “collective rumbling,” to use The Books’ own borrowed words – that you want to actually listen to. And just as when a stern man barks for the undivided attention of a silent audience on “It Never Changes to Stop,” you find yourself straining to follow along with the stories throughout Lost and Safe, carefully tuning your ears to catch all the juicy details.