Loquat's debut album, 2005's It's Yours To Keep, was a pleasant-enough
slice of electro-dusted pop whose songs seemed designed primarily to showcase
the enchanting voice of Kylee Swenson. The directive doesn't appear to have
changed on its follow-up, though the songwriting has: At some point over the
past few years, the San Francisco outfit learned how to craft tunes that go far
beyond just sitting around trying not to get in the way of its pretty-sounding
singer. Swenson is up for the challenge of matching the sharper soundtrack, a
fact immediately proven by a glorious chorus that's belted out during the
album-opening "Harder Hit," and the whole package stays strong over the course
of 11 songs. Loquat's sound is predominantly made up of smoothed-out edges that
are about as adult contempo as indie rock gets, but the well-executed
hooks—the triumphant ending of "Go Hibernate" suggests that these guys
are capable of writing household-name-making hits—never let things get
droopy. Don't look now, but Secrets Of The Sea just might bridge the gap
between generational record collections. As for those waterlogged secrets, the
lyrics tend to suggest that something ominous is going on, but on the surface,
it's a dream-pop party that keeps getting better upon closer inspection.