The new Odawas album has been getting some plays here lately. I noticed a little buzz surrounding it when it appeared on the radar (mostly thanks to Twitter and some limited blog coverage), but I haven’t heard much more about it. Which surprises me, because I was expecting it to be a lot more controversial than it has been.

So let me just get things out there in the open: I don’t get it.

I don’t get why I find this album enjoyable, why I don’t find it cloying, why it didn’t get tossed out my front door so it could find a new home under the tyres of rush hour traffic.

On paper, the album is not supposed to work. Not only that, it shouldn’t even get a look-in. The songs are open-ended, languid affairs, drenched in dense layers of morose synths. The mix has so much reverb it doesn’t even wade in the stuff, it swims. The percussion frequently reminds me of downtempo AOR staples from the 80s. It’s got plasticky synth-pianos. And to cap it off many of the tracks exhibit FRETLESS BASS. Did I mention synth panpipes?

Yes, I have to fess up: I’m enjoying the record. So the question is: why does it work? The answer, clearly, is that I frankly don’t have the thinnest wisp of a clue.

I never heard the earlier Odawas full-length, so I don’t know how this rates with their earlier work or how it compares in terms of sound. The music on this album is basically super-atmospheric, melodic singer-songwriter music, emerging from a sombre, reflective universe – I haven’t ruled out the possibility that the album was written in a lonely bar on a distant planet where few humans ever venture.

Despite the fact that most of the defining sounds on the album come from synthesized sources, it gives off strongly folk vibes. The harmonica flourishes probably do something to aid this impression, and the fact that the vocals sound uncannily like a young Neil Young at his most yearning doesn’t hurt either. Guitar strums sit nestled amongst the synths from time to time, but overall this album offers tones and sounds that normally don’t get a look-in on singer-songwriter material unless they’re in the hands of someone like Daniel Lanois.

To conclude, this is a grey-weather album. It’s not a daytrip sunshine car album, and it’s not a downtempo party album. It sounds best suited for wet days when you would prefer to curl up in a blanket with a mug of cocoa. Try it out – you might love it, or you may hate it.

(The album has also been given rotation for my daughter Nadia’s bedtime music. She seems to like it for chilling or sleeping to, which gives it bonus points)

You can get your first taste by listening to an mp3 below:

Listen

• Harmless Lover’s Discourse (mp3)