Nyles Lannon: Pressure

It's hard to record whispery indie-folk music in the 21st century without inviting comparisons to Elliott Smith, and San Francisco's Nyles Lannon doesn't help his case on his second album, Pressure, with songs like "Did I Lose You" and "Lost In The Stars," with their catchy minor-key acoustic plucking and barely audible moans. But Lannon's music owes just as much to Cocteau Twins, Stereolab, The Beta Band, and every other act that ventures into waves of drone and clouds of candyfloss. Pressure is cloaked in a mood of shock and fear, but the sound is far from numb, as song after song builds persuasively, adding elements until they break beyond murmur.