Infinite Shuffle

It seems like forever ago when Sharon Van Etten released her album, Tramp, but when it came out in February, a lot of critics predicted that it would land on numerous best-of-the-year lists.

And rightfully so, as it’s a pretty great album.

Unfortunately, another very similar album, released about three months later to much less fanfare, will likely fly under the radar come honors time.

Orangefarben, the second full-length release from Sea of Bees that came out May 1, bears a noticeable resemblance to Tramp, right down to its vocals.

Actually, Sea of Bees’ debut disc, 2010’s Songs For the Ravens, sounds much more like Ms. Van Etten. On Orangefarben, singer Julie Baenziger drops the dial on the haunting quality and replaces it with more of a country twang. So much so that, on several songs, it sounds like one of the Soderberg sisters from First Aid Kit came into the studio to harmonize with Julie Ann Bee (that would be Baenziger’s stage name).

All of the album’s 11 tracks have one-word titles. Some of the other notable songs include “Teeth”, “Give”, “Alien” and “Leaving”, which is a worthy cover of John Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane” with one added line.