The Sea and Cake
One Bedroom (Thrill Jockey)
With its sighing voices and swooning synthesizers, David Bowie’s “Sound and Vision” could well be a template for the Sea and Cake’s sixth album. Little wonder that this extraordinary Chicago quartet closes “One Bedroom” with a faithful cover of the Berlin-era Bowie classic. Graceful keyboards come to the fore alongside the chattering guitars of Sam Prekop and Archer Prewitt, bobbing on the undulating waves of Eric Claridge’s bass and the crisp beats and loops of John McEntire. Consigned to the background, “One Bedroom” could easily sit alongside the bossa nova, cool jazz and ambient electronic music albums in any hipster’s collection and serve as pretty wallpaper for dinner parties. But that would be selling the Sea and Cake short.
