Portland-based outfit Blind Pilot isn’t groundbreakingly experimental for an indie band. Their music is not edgy enough to piss off your parents or annoy your friends. It is stirringly sentimental, with swaying folk-pop melodies that softly hypnotize you.

They first appeared on the scene in 2008 with their self-released debut 3 Rounds and a Sound. It was an album for every day, any time of the year. It’s the kind of album you want to turn on when you’re driving home at night. Their follow-up album We Are the Tide was released earlier this year and is a gentle continuation, though slightly poppy-er than their debut.

Like its predecessor, the album is sweetly nostalgic like strolling down a dimly remembered street from your childhood, while still expressing what lies unsaid in the back of your head. Frontman Israel Nebeker is kinda brilliant that way. His lyrics draw you in as much as any other component of the music. It’s actually probably the band’s strongest aspect. His lyrics are not for one moment contrived but rather organic and honest. There isn’t one particular song that stands out in the album because the album as a whole is strong; it’s one of those albums that will take a while to wear out.

Tracklist

1. Half Moon
2. Always
3. Keep You Right
4. We Are the Tide
5. The Colored Night
6. I Know
7. White Apple
8. Just One
9. Get It Out
10. New York