Kevin Bronson on April 10th, 2019

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Ave Grave is the solo project of Sean Galloway, the L.A.-based composer and musician who, besides his work in TV Heads, writes music for film. He recently collaborated with David Bazan on the score of “Strange Negotiations,” Brian Vedder’s documentary on the Pedro the Lion main man that premiered last month at SXSW.

As Ave Grave, Galloway melds organic (sometimes field recordings) and electronic sounds into radiant compositions, and after forays into ambient and experimental music is now working on a full-length album. The first single is “Oxbow Lakes,” named for the crescent-shaped bodies of water that form when a river changes path. Here, Galloway marries traditional songwriting to his penchant for shaping rapturous soundscapes — his crystalline vocal meanders like one of those rivers, building to a questioning, melancholic chorus. “Where are you now? / Are you anywhere at all? / I’ll be outside when you wake up,” he croons. It’s the kind of song that takes the listener, wherever he or she may be, to someplace far more beautiful.

||| Stream: “Oxbow Lakes”

||| Live: Ave Grave performs tonight at Resident, along with the Mondegreens. Tickets.