Blonde Redhead have come a long way since their days of mimicking Sonic Youth’s brittle art-rock. Clanging guitars have been replaced by warm synthesizers and soft strings, while Japanese singer Kazu Makino’s thin voice has become a ghostly moan on the grandiose pieces of music this New York trio gives birth to once in a while… Their sounds are a lovely throwback to the dream-pop heyday of the Cocteau Twins and Lush, only with a more experimental streak, as cascading guitars, military rhythms, and wobbly melodies shape opulent, otherworldly songs like 23 or The Dress. Blonde Redhead’s music is ultra-rich and densely layered and their overall mood of wistfulness, melancholy, and regret of the early years has been replaced by one of mystical wonder and renewed energy. It’s art music and heart music, with equal appeal to a Serge Gainsbourg fan as to a Sonic Youth fan, without ever sounding like either act.