The Fakeout, the Tease and the Breather, by Canasta
It takes guts to kick off an album with a seven-minute track, but Canasta rewards the listener who hangs in there. "Becoming You" unfolds with patient pop majesty, recalling Belle & Sebastian or the Decemberists as it evokes a warm spring morning shaking off the frost. Sometimes the band's slow burn boils over in thrilling fashion, as in "I Don't Know Where I Was Going with This," which gathers polyrhythmic keyboards, violin and guitar arpeggios into a momentous baroque gallop.
