Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Let It Down

The far-out folk band now has a more grown-up sound, and that’s not the only change. Their sole female member, singer Jade Castrinos, left in 2014 after a decade, causing the remaining 10 members to reimagine their sound. Their fourth album, PersonA, forgoes their signature cutesy quirk in favor of stricter editing and deeper lyrics, making it their tightest, cleanest, and most serious work yet. Longtime fans shouldn’t worry—the songs are still dreamy and delirious and philosophically charged. But they’re also more patient and purposeful. “Uncomfortable, you’ve got to get uncomfortable,” sings frontman Alex Ebert on the eerie track, “Uncomfortable,“ about personal growth. If it’s a lesson he learned first-hand, it shows. In “Let it Down“, he urges his followers to accept the cold and misfortune that has afflicted their motorcade, to surrender to the divine forces that be. Just after the three-minute mark, he seems to acquiesce to these forces himself and, in turn, to break into a spa