Infinite Shuffle

On the way to work one recent afternoon, I heard a song during David Dye’s “World Cafe” program that got me very intrigued. I kept trying to pick out one or two lines so I could memorize them and do a search online once I got in the office.

Thankfully, Mr. Dye came to my rescue and let me know the song was “Windstorm”, the first single off School of Seven Bells’ second album, Disconnect From Desire.

SVIIB (that’s their preferred acronym) will always hold a special place in my mind because their song, “Iamundernodisguise”, was one of the first tracks I downloaded upon purchasing my new laptop a couple of years ago.

Listening to their debut album, Alpinisms, the best description of their sound that I could come up with was, “it’s as if Imogen Heap and Thom Yorke had a baby.” Every song is loaded with ethereal, dreamy pop that takes the listener to a higher plane of existence.

While the band itself sounds like it might be a party of one, it’s actually a trio — made up of Benjamin Curtis, formerly of Secret Machines, and identical twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza. While the Deheza gals let their voices soar, Curtis sticks to lead guitar and manipulating various electronic devices.

Although the vocals can often be hard to make out, they’re the most important part of the song. According to their Wikipedia page, the group comes up with the lyrics first, and everything else is secondary.

On SVIIB’s latest album, which came out July 13, the vocals are still prominent, but the band turns up the electronica on just about every track.

If you’re interested in seeing them live, the group will be touring throughout September and October all over the U.S.

School of Seven Bells – Half Asleep