Son Lux released the first installment of their Tomorrows trilogy in August of a turbulent 2020. Fourth months later, and loosely reminiscent of the second movement of a classical symphony, Tomorrows II proves to be a relatively more hushed, introspective volume. Like Tomorrows I, it was recorded with group members and contributors separated in such far-flung locales as New York, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Budapest. Still seething with anxiety and trepidation, the ten-track album begins with "Warning," a delicate piano song with shifting tonal centers behind Ryan Lott's haunting vocal quiver and message of uncertainty ("Can't promise I'll be near you/All the way up through the end"). While the album slowly gathers components and rhythmic complexity as it progresses, it remains cautionary in tone and, for Son Lux, restrained. Early tracks like "Molecules" and "Prophecy" add eerie, tubal percussion and glitchy vocal effects, then full drum kit and jazzy harmonies to the mix, while epic fourth entry "Leaves" seems to pause for a fractured storm of clattery percussion and throbby low end. It eventually passes on a spare arrangement of murmuring brass, bass drum, and exhales. Typical of the band, it makes for an evocative universe constructed from acoustic sources variously manipulated to otherworldly effect -- again in subtly unfamiliar ways. In the second half, the funky "Bodies" adds colorful choral voices, prepared piano, and Ian Chang's off-kilter drumming to a central bass line before Tomorrows II closes on three more-foreboding tracks. They include an ambient instrumental ("Weight of Your Air") and a densely arranged, stomping song in line with Son Lux's more dance-oriented releases. The brief final track, "Borrowed Eyes," employs piano, sweeping, dissonant strings, and unsettling, instrument-produced noise before exiting on a glistening, crescendoing mechanical hum that seems to signal "to be continued." ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi

1		Warning
2		Molecules
3		Prophecy
4		Leaves
5		Out of Wind
6		Apart
7		Bodies
8		Weight of Your Air
9		Live Another Life
10		Borrowed Eyes

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