Matrimonial bliss

Dripping with nostalgia, husband&wife’s “Dark Dark Woods” is at times both heart-wrenching and inspiring.

Built mostly around the interplay between polished, emotive vocals and the band’s delicately woven guitar sounds, the album mixes the vocal styles of more poppy, indie folk and rock fare (think Margot and the Nuclear So And So’s or Nada Surf) with the cerebral, slow-building guitar melodies of bands like Explosions in the Sky and Early Day Miners.

Released on the band’s own label, Bloomington’s Crossroads of America Records, husband&wife have created an album that is intricately arranged, balanced and well-produced.

Solemn folk opener “Comp Jam” sets the mood, conjuring up images of a creaking ship in a rainstorm, but it isn’t until the meditative “England Lives” that the band really hits their stride.

Building from a delicate guitar melody, the band swells and erupts around Mike Adams’ somber vocals: “I found my heart today/ It wasn’t where I had thought/ Buried in what you say/ Not in my own conviction.” With thundering drums and guitar crashes, the song combines the band’s most dramatic and atmospheric flourishes with a quiet, beautiful desperation.

The album’s sadness seems to stem from a difficulty with reconciling an idealistic past with a changing present, shown most strongly in “I’ll Avenue Body, Graceland Lord, I’ll Avenue Life.”

Beginning with quivering guitar chords and a strong, melodic bass line, Adams’s line “I always knew my life would change, but not this way/ No not this way” reveals the sentiment as he regrets the changes of his hometown. A lush, wistful wall of sound ends the track.

Overall, “Dark Dark Woods” is an impressive achievement from a talented local band. Bittersweet and epic, husband&wife has created a unique combination of catchy pop melody and refined post-rock.