Truth be told, I don't often give album art the consideration that it deserves. Sometimes it seems pretty half-assed, or sometimes it leans heavily on an overused aesthetic, as is the case here; rarely, however, does indulging in that aesthetic render all other attempts to do so obsolete. The cover of Restless Idylls is an utterly perfect encapsulation of the album's sound - baroque, of a time that you're happy not to be in, and more than a little spooky. And good lord, can we get that creepy hand out of there?

To clarify, these are all very good, if not particularly pleasant, qualities for music to have. Restless Idylls is more than a little jarring, not so much in a noisy way as in a way that is completely incapable of blending in. Some of these tracks sound like songs that I've heard, I guess, but much slower. Much sadder, too, and a little menacing. Remember when someone discovered that you could slow any track way down and produce an ambient masterpiece? This is a convincing counterargument. One could trace its lineage through post-punk and coldwave, there's an equally strong case to be made that it's taking cues from drone. It is, to quote a wise man, a soundtrack to alienation.

Highlights: Hardest Day, Children of a Lesser God, Rites of the Wild