Maps - Turning The Mind

By: Anna Dobbie

Maps
Turning The Mind

(Mute)

SOUNDS LIKE: Sugary synthesizer dreampop that errs on the side of sickly.

"Hi, how you keeping? I guess it's been a while," opens the title track to Maps' second full-length, which sees him ditching the smelling salts and the meaningless lyrics of 2007's debut in favor of some moral high ground and well thought out subject matter, yes? No. His delivery is still as flat as a stoner stroking the sidewalk, and the saccharine twinkles of synthesizer pop drench the dreaminess to an almost ecclesiastical extent. However, "Everything is Shattering" briefly breaks away from the sparkly major key haze and "Die Happy, Die Smiling" is a staccato highpoint, punching through the fluffy pink clouds.


Video: "I Dream of Crystal" by Maps