With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery by Moonface

The previous two Moonface records were, to varying degrees, half-hearted, cryptic, and jammy, whereas Heartbreaking Bravery is nothing if not lucid and bulging with heart.

Rather than leading Krug to indulge in his noodling fantasies, Siinai seems to have forced him to the other end of the spectrum, the place where hooks reign supreme.

Heartbreaking Bravery represents the perfect bridge between his many conduits - another reminder of how restless, brilliantly creative, and progressive an artist Spencer Krug is.

With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery, weaves an instrumental, Krautrock-inspired thrum that’s nothing short of gorgeous.

While it’s no carbon copy of sounds past, it does recall similar qualities to Wolf Parade

There's a purposeful simplicity to its narrative approach and a concreteness to its imagery-- even when our narrator sounds less than engaged.

Heartbreaking Bravery is pretty far-out and difficult to pigeonhole, even for Krug’s standards—but what sets is apart from the rest of his catalog is a dark, throbbing instrumental cohesion.

The result is a blend of startling lyrical depth and slow, whirlpools of murky music.

Certainly this is an engaging collection that offers exposure for Siinai and a kick up the arse for Moonface.

Swirling synths abound, but remain encased in four-minute micro-epics which sometimes mine the icy ambition of pre-megastardom Simple Minds.