Papercuts

Subtlety is often an underrated quality. That’s partly why Papercuts’ new album, Fading Parade band’s fourth overall, and first for Sub Pop—is such a breath of fresh air. Papercuts prinicipal Jason Robert Quever’s beautiful songwriting is thoughtful, quietly evocative and simultaneously ambitious. This is dream pop of the highest order, but unlike a lot of contemporary bands that fall under the same sonic umbrella, Papercuts isn’t trying to emulate shoegaze heavy hitters from yesteryear. Instead, Quever’s embraced a gentler, more sophisticated approach to presenting pop music that’s steeped in atmosphere.

Papercuts’ first three albums—2004’s Mockingbird, 2007’s Can’t Go Back, and 2009’s You Can Have What You Want—were recorded in San Francisco by Quever at his home studio, Pan American Recording, where he’s worked with artists like Port O’Brien, Beach House, Cass McCombs, Still Flyin’, and The Skygreen Leopards. Pan American was partially used to make Fading Parade, but for the first time Quever also left his comfort zone by heading to The Hangar in Sacramento and handing over some of the recording reins to Thom Monahan (Beachwood Sparks, Au Revoir Simone, Vetiver, Tussle). It turned out to be a great match, and with Monahan handling the technical details, as well as his live band helping out, Quever avoided sweating the small stuff and was able to spend more time being a performer and arranger.