It makes so much sense for
Still Corners to write songs inspired by their dreams that it's somewhat surprising it took them six albums to do it. Letting ideas and phrases ripped from the pages of
Tessa Murray's dream journal guide the surreal serenity of
Dream Talk may be an obvious choice, but the results never are. Where many dream pop acts blanket their songs in an otherworldly haze of distortion and feedback,
Murray and
Greg Hughes use space, clarity, and subtly odd production touches to create a more delicate kind of unreality. In much the same way that
Murray morphs from a voyager to a voyeur on "Secret World," the abstract metallic shimmers that surround her lend the song a shifting, mirage-like strangeness. Some of
Dream Talk's strongest moments pair its elusive sonics with remarkably tight songwriting. The heartbroken synth pop of "Lose More Slowly" is one of several songs that continues
Last Exit's feeling of soundtracking a long, late-night drive to nowhere. Even when
Still Corners don't depart radically from their past, it's easy to appreciate their gift for creating haunting moods on "Faded Love"'s ghostly AM pop or "Crystal Blue"'s hyper-romantic tropical paradise.
Murray and
Hughes also perform a skilled balancing act with
Dream Talk's arrangements. Though "Today Is the Day" builds into a kaleidoscopic swirl of guitars and electronic textures, it never seems busy, and while "Turquoise Moon"'s midnight surf ballad pares things down to little more than guitar and
Murray's voice, it feels timeless, not unfinished. At times, the mood is so sustained that the album resembles one slowly evolving song. At its finest, though,
Dream Talk is an alluring reminder of the power of visions and fantasies from a group that's mastered how to bring them to life. ~ Heather Phares
![You Will Never Know Why [Bonus Tracks]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0708527202227_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "You Will Never Know Why [Bonus Tracks]")
