I haven't heard much of the band's past work but "In the mountain in the cloud" initially delighted me because of its mild glam appeal. There are T-Rex strings on many tracks but the vocals are the standard, indie, super-harmonized, falsetto, kind. While there's some glam to be gleaned here there's no sultry Marc Bolan or David Bowie type singing, sadly. It's a bit of a tease.
It could be Miike Snow singing for all I know. Except for a few times on the album John Gourley's potentially soulful voice is overshadowed by aggressive production and a tendency toward an obnoxious high, indie, register. Sometimes (rarely though) this particular register does make him sound a bit Marc Bolan but often times it just makes him sound annoying.
The music goes back and forth between glam and psych and isn't unpleasant. It's dreamy and enveloping but the jarringly high vocals sometimes shatter that tranquility. Portugal the Man should lead the charge in freeing their vocalist from the usual, wall-of-sound, vocals treatment and let Gourley belt out some vocals sans overdubs or chorus. And maybe he could afford to sing in a lower key every once in a while.
Key tracks are "So American", "Once was One", "Sleep Forever".
Grade: C
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