Written by an isolated lake at night during the breakdown of his marriage, Noctunes finds Beal downbeat, softer and more vulnerable than on his 2013 release, Nobody Knows. The long, drawn-out synth strings of album opener Under You bleed into all tracks across the album, which drift past as a soporific collection of ambient ballads evoking insomnia and loneliness (Like a Box being a notable, trancey exception). While the minimalist voice-synth-drums setup intermittently hints at new age meditative music or 80s ballads, Beal’s outsider lyrics and occasional sorrowful howl stop the album from slipping into well-trodden territory. It’s an intriguing record, unpredictable and weird even in its simplicity.
