As instrumental post-rock has largely faded from view, pushed to the side by the more exotic strains of noise collage and electronic soundscape, it’s easy to forget just how powerful the traditional tools of the trade can be when effectively utilized. Providing a reminder, brothers Jared and Michael Bell offer Shutter Release, a sonically diverse and melodically complex set of tracks carved out of analog synthesizers, fingerpicked acoustic guitars, tinkling found-sound percussion, majestic strings and purring horns. Worked out over a series of phone calls while the brothers lived apart in Brooklyn and Austin respectively, their third album is a remarkably cohesive affair, neatly unfolding in meticulously contrasting patterns that drift from evilly churning drums and majestic strings of “Ghost Clock” to the cooing lap steel and banjo and crashing cymbals of “Bedroom Anthem.” In fact, the formula becomes a little worn by the end, as too many tracks follow a similar trajectory through sleepy, slowly congealing intros that eventually culminate in a soft eruption of tumbling drums, whirring electronics, and interwoven melodic lines that pull the song toward an uplifting climax before settling back down into a stoic conclusion. To their credit, they pile a remarkably diverse set of sounds upon that sturdy template; one just wishes they’d topple that edifice every now and again.

— Matt Fink

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