You sit in the backseat of a moving car. Two individuals you do not recognize sit in the front seats, but you do not feel alarmed; rather, you are enveloped in an aura of comfort. Dusty air blows through the open windows and coats the car’s interior, but nobody seems to mind. Endless rolling plains surround the vehicle. Where is your destination? The question feels light as a feather, and dissipates into the breeze. The driver turns the car’s volume knob . . .

Some breakup records ask a lot from their listeners. Some take the sadness that comes with the potent subject matter and transform it into sad-sounding music, forcing listeners to stare sadness right in the face. Those albums have a time and a place, but this is not one of those albums. All Yours is the newest full-length from Widowspeak, a duo that have woven the threads of a breakup album into a quilt of warm comfort.

The sweet, shoegazey americana that Molly Hamilton and Robert Earl Thomas create is mellow, and it carries an essence of nostalgia. Hamilton traverses the corridors of an abandoned relationship with a tranquil voice that shimmers in the haze of guitars and synths. If Real Estate and Rilo Kiley produced a child, and that child grew up and fell victim to a broken heart, it might sound something like this wonderful group.

There’s a quality of detailed meticulousness that pervades this whole record. Each drum hit, guitar chord, melody, and tone is shaped to function as a piece within a larger puzzle. The production is pristine, and each song glows like a late afternoon. Hamilton and Thomas have crafted something that’s beautiful and inviting, with open arms to those hurting. If you’re seeking warm, shoegazey americana, this album is for you.

– stasi (@stasisphere)