Two Windows marks the welcome return of Lali Puna after a seven-year hiatus. Now a trio following the departure of Markus Acher (The Notwist), the German band still trade in intricately layered, feather-light melodies with Valerie Trebeljahr’s barely-there vocals creating unobtrusive electro-pop, like The Postal Service and Caribou’s even more bookish offspring.
It's Trebeljahr's strongest set of lyrics to date as she contemplates personal freedom (Two Windows), calls out the blinkered elite (Come Out Your House) and comforts the working weary (Her Daily Black). Kings of Leon's The Bucket is radically reworked but is a disrupting inclusion, whereas Wonderland is a buzzing, sugar-sweet ode to change.
Closing track Head Up High, all treated synths and soft beats, unites the album's themes, offering a beacon of hope in a disjointed world.
