Alsace Lorraine builds their sound quietly, using minimal gestures to create every song. Through Small Windows is how you'd see this album if it were visual art; you get glimpses rather than being gobsmacked with a floor-to-ceiling canvas. The ultimate effect, though, is very satisfying.
Vitesse's Hewson Chen is a member of Alsace Lorraine, which accounts for the delicate British pop undertones audible throughout the album. Keyboards dominate the sound, in addition to atmospheric, gauzy guitars. Caitlin Brice's voice is the soft, breathy kind, and although she's somewhat less untouchable and her voice is less remarkable, she mirrors the vocal styles of Nina Persson, Dot Allison and Sarah Cracknell -- women with wispy wrists, all. She sounds like a thorazine girl, albeit a cheerful one.
The lyrics are all about relationships (mostly broken ones, as is suited to their tempo) and childhood memories, but the images within them are so disconnected that you can't feel as dark as you do when you've been listening to Hope Sandoval. "I found some seeds in my garden / my love threw off to someone else / all this time I never even noticed them", Brice coos in "Swing Low, Constellation". With a funky guitar slide, chiming chords and slow 4/4 time that sounds kind of perky -- even though it's awfully slow for perky -- this song grabs you in a childishly pleasurable way that's almost indescribable. Never before has anyone sung about rivers running dry with less of a sense of urgency.
The band claims the Eurythmics as an influence, and you can hear it in "Once the Ocean Built a Ship", which has a definite '80s feel. Totally instrumental, with dark synth chords and the percussion limited to cymbals, "Once" sounds tailor-made for the moment when a closeup of Molly Ringwald shows up in a John Hughes film. There's also a distinct club music influence throughout the album; although nothing here is fast enough to dance to, you could play several of the tracks, particularly "Dreams I Can't Control", during cool-down periods. As Through Small Windows progresses, the tracks grow tighter and achieve a more unified style, increasing the listening pleasure as you go on.
Like the region they're named for, Alsace Lorraine straddles several styles, happily creating a unique and gifted one of their own. Hopefully they will continue to roam the same area, albeit traveling in wider circles as they grow.
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