I first heard of Exitmusic from an article that likened them to Beach House. I listened to a track through that lens, and I didn’t like it.

A few weeks later, I gave them another shot. This time, that lens was shattered by the opening title track, which had more in common with Explosions in the Sky’s more frantic moments than anything Beach House has ever done.

And as the record went on, that was the comparison that stood out much more. Yes, Passage has moments of quiet sweetness like the dream pop favorites, but often those moments are interrupted by larger than life, post-rock friendly textures and movie-trailer-ready explosions of life. It’s almost shoegaze at times with its layers of noisy guitars and vocal samples, but Aleksa Palladino’s (of Boardwalk Empire fame) voice is far too engaged, singing like a 70s rock god with passion borrowed from her mother’s operatic background.

Even at her fullest wail (and does she ever wail), her voice still trembles and quivers, fully at the mercy of her heart. Besides her voice, the atmospheres that she and husband Devon Church create together with their guitars and synthesizers and drum machines are rich enough to make Brian Eno proud. And the marriage of her voice with the songs’ soundscapes are enough to make you weep, or at least fulfill Church’s desire of “[confronting] people in a gentle but powerful way, to make them feel something.” Done and done, Exitmusic.