If Elvis Perkins’ previous album, 2009’s Elvis Perkins in Dearland, implied he was determined to beef up his folk-rock and reach out to a wider audience, its follow-up sees him retreat into his shell. Recorded without a producer or a band, I Aubade is nearly as impressive as his heartrending debut, 2007’s Ash Wednesday, though the songs have a dreamy, half-finished feel, as if composed by Perkins in his sleep. My Kind, for instance, wheezes and creaks like an old man struggling up a hill, while the harp-led & Eveline is gossamer-light. The result is a set that is spare and intimate, its imperfections and unusual instruments (sitar, xylophone) ensuring that Perkins sounds like no one else alive.
