XLR8R

As noted by XLR8R scribe David Bevin in our recent Portland issue, "nearly every second of Dragging a Dead Dear Up a Hill feels like an exorcism of sounds." A rather dream-pop affair, the album finds Liz Harris, the lone member of Grouper, making a departure from the restrained style that characterized her previous efforts and unleashing the ambient melancholy in full-force–particularly in the vocal department. Harris was often found whispering on past albums. Here, her smooth voice soars over stripped-down acoustic guitars and the track does feel as though she's releasing some kind of inner ghost that needed to be let out. Jennifer Marston