Giuliano Gullotti (Amberhaze) describes his music as “equal parts shoegaze, post-rock and electronica.” The description is accurate. All three components are present in nearly-equal quantities. Mix them together, and what do we get? An amber haze of pleasant sonics, which makes the moniker apt.

Then We Saw the Stars Again is so smooth that it stands up well to repeated listens, lounging in the background with stretched legs and a mixed drink. On the other hand, the sonics fail to surge, pop, or command attention. "What did I just hear?" one may ask. "I'll have to play it again." Albums such as this are rarer than one might think; some crash and burn due to a lack of flow, while others sink and drown due to blandness. The only jarring moment is a poor transition between the third and fourth tracks; and, even though patterns do repeat within songs, they do so in an endearing fashion. One might surmise that Gullotti has been influenced by fatherhood – his last release, the Newborn EP, celebrated the birth of his second son – as the album is decorated with lullaby tones, and there’s nothing here that would wake the baby.

Will this attract the common listener? It’s hard to say. Everything here is done well, with a slight throwback tinge: the drum programming and shoegaze guitars are byproducts of the 80’s/early 90’s sound, while the post-rock aspect is decidedly retro. One can hear the ghosts of other groups in the mix:New Order, Postal Service, My Bloody Valentine. The proceedings come across as humble offerings rather than haughty ambition, and their familiarity is comforting. Perhaps the best audience for this release would be those who miss the sounds of their youth and yearn to hear them respectfully updated.

The album’s most endearing quality is that Gullotti makes everything seem so easy. He’s comfortable using the post-rock formula, which starts with light strumming (found on “When you Sleep”) and ends with shimmer and build (“Blossoms”). However, Gullotti is not making post-rock music; he’s borrowing from the template. The same is true for the electronic and shoegaze aspects. “A Certain Affinity” cuts and pastes the drum programming from a bygone era to a modern schematic, while “1994” welds whispered shoegaze vocals to post-rock drums. “Selva Oscura” may be piano-centric, but its utilization of laptop beats dusts it with contemporary elegance, and “Crush” blends it all together.

Could it be that the music we love has become so textbook that it is easy to emulate, or could Gullotti be onto something here? I prefer to think the latter. The eight-minute “There is a Way,” which flows so convincingly throughout, makes me believe that the artist knows what he’s doing. The piece ebbs, flows, swirls, distributes its instrumentation evenly throughout, and makes wise use of electronic hand claps. While I typically prefer the new and exciting, the craftsmanship displayed on this album, and especially on this highlight track, leads me to believe that Gullotti could and one day may take a stab at future music, but for now he’s content to live in the moment.

-Richard Allen