Small circles of light remain, slightly blurred, on the backs of each eyelid in a desperate effort to retain the experiences of the day. Cars speeding through city lights, over-zealous pedestrians pouring through the street faster than the rain that is steadily beading on their black umbrellas, the incessant chatter of a teenage-girl adjacent to you on the train discussing her latest crush on a pink mobile phone. These events rescind to an unhurried pace when the top and bottom lashes intersect to initiate the first instance of sleep. This is the universe in which Stars of the Lid reside, stretching weary notes that once danced around the scale as quarter and eights into legato wholes as they descend into their final rest.

And Their Refinement of the Decline is the Austin based duo’s first album in almost six years. But this apparent absence clarifies itself after even the first listen. It is as if SOTL laid tones, sounds and drones on a shelf for six years, allowing them to decompose into the two hours of ambiance on And Their Refinement…. The two discs are laden with resonant swells that meander sluggishly, each note drawn to its fullest, leaving a delicate film in its wake. Envision the poignancy of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings transcribed from an orchestra to synthesizer and guitar based ambient post-rock.

Stars of the Lid will obviously not appeal everyone. Those who are in need of constant stimulation should probably pass. But those who could spend an afternoon watching the migration of cumuli across the sky, this album is a must.

-Thomas Lloyd