After the mainstream ambitions of Infinite Arms and Mirage Rock, Band of Horses’s fifth album makes something of a triumphant return to the wide-eyed, dreamy vulnerability that marked the Seattle band’s first two records. The default mode is anthemic indie-rock that pinpoints the place where wistfulness and euphoria collide, then showers it in effervescent harmonies and melodies. But the songs run the gamut from country-rock to Hag’s unlikely, reverb-laden nod to OMD’s synth hit Souvenir. Ben Bridwell wrote the songs in his garage, and there’s a wonderfully homespun feel to the likes of Casual Party, a giddy, New Order-like guitar rush about the pleasures of dogs and children. Whatever, Wherever is a touring musician’s lovely homage to coming home. Barrel House – wherein Bridwell describes “shifting a chair on the porch, for a better position to enjoy the warmth of the sun” – edges towards self-parody, but emerges as beautifully moving.
