Surrounded in an even thicker haze of psychedelic smoke than the Gris Gris' self-titled debut, For the Season is an unabashedly ambitious, occasionally difficult album that traces a journey to the deepest, darkest recesses of Greg Ashley's mind. Right off the bat, For the Season aims high, beginning with a six-song suite that not only encompasses the Gris Gris' chiaroscuro interplay of cavernous, ominous rock and light, dreamy folk (witness the contrast between Cuerpos Haran Amor Extrano and Down with Jesus) but also throws in heady free jazz elements on Ecks Em Eye for good measure. Given its conceptual framework, For the Season might arguably be a more cohesive album than the Gris Gris' debut, but its individual songs aren't always quite as strong; as much atmosphere as The Nonstop Tape -- which sounds like field recordings from a haunted house full of hippie ghosts -- and Skin Mass Cat lend, they don't necessarily make for consistently compelling listening. Still, it's hard to deny the anthemic power of Year Zero or the quirky sweetness of Medication #4, which mixes an innocent, '50s rock-style waltz with acid rock organs. The last handful of songs on For the Season help make up for any earlier impenetrability: Pick Up Your Raygun mines the dark psych-rock of the Rolling Stones' Paint It, Black and sounds both fresh and classic, while Mademoiselle of the Morning is a charming, unpretentious love song complete with rattling background noises that add to its off-the-cuff feel. For the Season itself closes the album with an epic flourish, moving from a lighthearted mood to a dark, Eastern-inspired climax and then returning to its gentler beginnings. While the album's ambitions occasionally get the better of the actual music, For the Season's intermittent brilliance is worth digging and waiting for. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi

1		Ecks Em Eye
2		Peregrine Downstream
3		Cuerpos Haran Amor Extrano
4		Down With Jesus
5		Big Engine Nazi Kid Daydream
6		Year Zero
7		The Nonstop Tape
8		Medication #4
9		Skin Mass Cat
10		Pick Up Your Raygun
11		Mademoiselle of the Morning
12		For the Season