Two albums in, Special Friend‘s brand of gentle indie rock keeps getting better, more interesting, and more emotionally satisfying. This time are drummer/vocalist Guillaume Siracusa and guitarist/vocalist Erica Ashleson took a little more time to record — seven days in the isolated countryside — and made use of a slightly wider range of instruments along the way.
The result on “Clipping” is one of a band firmly in control of their sound and presentation. The basics of drum and guitar with their lovely, subtle vocals on top sounds extra good when the synths come in, acoustic guitars weave a warm musical bed, and they gently mess around with song structure. At its core Clipping bolls down the best things about indie rock — the simplicity of…