Love

iTunes Editors’ Notes

Cloud Cult's leader and singer, Craig Minowa, is a quick study on how music's being made these days. Cloud Cult's ninth album, Love, continues the indie band's evolution as a group capable of big songs and even grander productions. Any fan of modern alt-rock who's spent time listening to The Polyphonic Spree, The Arcade Fire, and their contemporaries knows just how complicated the arrangements can get. But they're not more complicated as Minowa's own life. In 2002, Minowa and his wife put their two-year-old son Kaidin to bed, and the boy never woke up. A decade of conflicting emotions has led to this cathartic collection; there's even an eerie track called "Catharsis." The theme, of sorts, is love. The instrumental "All the Things We Couldn't See" is heavier than many of the songs with lyrics. "It's Your Decision" juggles various melody lines and arrangements within its four-plus minutes; it has a sense of distracting oneself with many ideas to keep your mind off the one thing that matters most. For lightness, "Good Friend" gooses up a handclap-heavy arrangement with a festive horn section.