Rachel's: The Sea And The Bells

It's not uncommon to burn out on rock: Even the best hooks and most stirring lyrics can appear formulaic after a while, washing over you like audio filler. Thank heaven for Rachel's, creators of some of the most exciting contemporary classical music around. As opposed to the band's Music for Egon Schiele (released a mere six months ago), The Sea and the Bells adds 14 players to the three-person core of the band. The result is not necessarily a fuller sound, but rather a more diverse one. Rachel's wanders into jazzy and ambient directions without falling back on jarring experimentalism for its own sake, and each song navigates different terrains of introspection and melody. Also noteworthy is the fact that The Sea and the Bells contains a 54-page booklet filled with poems and dreamy design that would make 4AD designer 23 Envelope pass out with envy. It's hard to say whether the stand-out quality here comes from the ensemble writing process, the beautiful arrangements, or the fact that Rachel's is making some of the only radically different music being created today. For people who have a hard time understanding classical music, Rachel's would make a good stepping-off point, except that there is no reason to step anywhere other than to the band's previous releases.