Big Search - Slow Fascination (2019)

An active project since the early part of the 2000s, Big Search represents the solo endeavors of Matthew Popieluch, a California native whose multi-faceted career has seen him fronting L.A. indie rock combo Foreign Born, scoring films, playing around town as a solo acoustic act, and playing sideman to acts like Papercuts, Cass McCombs, and Fool's Gold. After some scattered activity that yielded several small releases for assorted indies, Big Search suddenly found a major-label home on Danger Mouse's 30th Century Records and released his fourth album, Life Dollars, in 2016. It was notably more mature than Popieluch's more cerebral lo-fi past work, and drifted into lusher indie pop territory. His 2019 follow-up, Slow Fascination, plays even further into this realm, pairing a breezy West Coast feel with smart, luminous arrangements. Written and recorded in the wake of Popieluch's divorce, Slow Fascination has a reflective, though not entirely melancholic, tone to it. Born out of the soul-searching that comes when one is suddenly set adrift but open to possibility, songs like the excellent "Stillness in the Air" and the dreamily warped "Wire Walker" convey a sense of wonder and mystery. Pianos and acoustic guitars are neatly orchestrated with dense synth jungles, vivid harmony stacks, and rhythmic patterns that evoke California's deep pop history from Pet Sounds to Morning Phase. Opener "Slow Motion Train" sets the affair in motion, its lyrics capturing the strange disorientation of a major life change amid a rushing surf of sound and the easy tinkling of harpsichord notes. Although his dreamy songs play easy on the ears, Popieluch has hidden a multitude of layers in plain sight on this lovingly crafted collection.