If the cover is any indication, you can expect Parades to be an intricately arranged, multi-faceted affair that diverts off one direction then another then another then another. And you’d be right.

The Denmark-based collective exists somewhere between Sufjan Stevens’ states albums and Sigur Ros. Every track seems to have at least twenty people on it playing any manner of strings or woodwinds (see: opener Polygne). And to make things even more communal, never does a clear lead singer arise above the orchestral chamber pop to take control. Most of the melodies are sung by three voices in unison, or compete with simultaneous melodies, which could be sung by any number of the figures on the cover. The tracks rise into exuberance and fall into despair, striking the right chords throughout, and creating an album that is as epic (Frida Found a Friend) as it is personable (Mirador), and one of my forever favorites.