Like Un Mas Dos, I’ll try to keep this review short and sweet. Last year Straylight Run released The Needles the Space, a great album that rewarded repeat listeners and struck a fine balance between lead vocalists John Nolan and Michelle DaRosa. In the time since, Straylight Run were dropped from Universal Records and DaRosa left the band to pursuer her solo career. Rather than allowing these losses to accumulate in a complete breakdown of the band, John Nolan, bassist Shaun Cooper, and drummer Will Noon decided to return to their roots. The e-release Un Mas Dos is a brief three song set that recalls the band’s first online release and shines a light through the haze and into their future.

Straylight Run has always frustrated me. Ever since hearing those 6 self-released demos in 2003, I have been waiting and waiting for this band to awe me, to release a great record. But 2004’s self-titled release, which had a handful of great songs, was too produced and unfocused, while 2005’s EP “Prepare To Be Wrong” was a step in the right direction, but too short to have any lasting impact on me. But with their second full-length (and major label debut), Straylight Run have finally wowed me. 

The Needles The Space displays the new musical direction Straylight Run have gone in. Instead of drowning their songs with piano-heavy melodies seen on past releases, they experiment and dive into using different instruments to create a fuller, richer sound than ever before. Produced by the band and engineered by Bryan Russell and Mike Sapone, Straylight Run achieves the sound they’ve been aiming at throughout their career. While some fans may complain about the production (similar to how many complained about the brilliant production on Thursday’s last release), it is the sound the band wanted, and if the tracks were produced anymore than what they are, I believe it lose the luster and impact each track possesses.