The consistently brilliant Sonna does it again with Smile and the World Smiles With You, a lush masterpiece of epic indie rock recorded by Steve Albini and the follow-up to its critically lauded debut, We Sing Loud Sing Soft Tonight. The subtle, shimmering guitar interplay on tracks like “Open Ended” shows that this band owes as much to past psychedelics like Pink Floyd as it does to the Slint lineage. By taking the quiet subtlety of Low and combining it with the grandeur of Mogwai and the gentle tones of Múm (see “One Most Memorable”), Sonna conjures a sprawling dream album — but one that still seems to keep in touch with the crunchy and danceable immediacy of more standard indie rock. From the jangling country shuffle that kicks off “The Right Age” to the golden moods of “Smile,” Sonna creeps along in slow motion, but it isn’t the movement of a glacier, it’s the measured rise of the sun over the ocean. – Charles Spano
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