Ramona Falls return with another far-reaching experiment dedicated to the creation of epic pop music. Pop music that, from its very conception through to its euphoric demise, magnifies, explores and scales new heights. Guided by ex Menomena man Brent Knopf, the guitars, at times, are feeling a little fiercer than those on the debut, while the rhythms remain a thing of ever-changing invention.

It’s Knopf’s delicate vocal amidst the vast footprint being set by the music that creates a fragility, a certain sense of melancholy. So moments like that found halfway through Spore, when his tones match the distorted momentum, we find ourselves on a stirring summit for two minutes plus.

Bodies of Water is a stunning opener, allowing sparser moments to front the verse, Knopf patiently constructing the build-up. The chorus is as climatic as you would hope for. That’s the secret of Ramona Falls: peaks and troughs, finding multiple journeys within one song, yet remaining on a singular course of exploration.

Divide By Zero has a big beat that John Bonham would be proud of, eating up the track as it rolls forward. Yet the vocal here feels colder, industrial even – none of the unguarded Knopf.

Maybe with Menemona confined to the masterful pop graveyard Ramona Falls will be given more attention. Knopf has undoubtedly created another set of gloriously complex songs, intricate journeys that switch between the calm and the storm and back again. It’s hard to fault such imagination.

-Dave Taylor-