Stream: Night Beds, ‘Corners’

Kevin Bronson on August 10th, 2015

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Winston Yellen calls “Ivywild,” his second album as Night Beds, a bunch of “sad sex jams.” Whether happy, sad or residing in that queasy place in between, the album — which came out Friday on Dead Oceans — is exceptionally beautiful, an emotional bloodletting of soul- and hip-hop-tinged electronica. It’s a departure from the sad-sack Americana on Night Beds’ 2013 debut “Country Sleep” and features the work of some 25 musicians, including Yellen’s brother Abe. The 26-year-old songwriter said his epiphany came when he first heard Kanye West’s “Yeezus”: “All the emotions that I had kept inside came flooding out. Being a white nerdy kid from Colorado Springs, I was attracted to that sound. I was tired of being a sad sack like Elliott Smith or Ryan Adams. … I wanted to make music that was physical.” The lush textures and Yellen’s soaring vocals on “Ivywild” deserve their comparisons to Bon Iver, and perhaps fans of Chet Faker and Glass Animals will find some ear candy in the album’s 60-plus minutes.

||| Stream: “Corners” and “Me Liquor & God”