The biggest hurdle Montreal band Belleisle face on their debut, Longstanding, is trying to find a way to get listeners to care. The album is full of simple, hushed folk-pop and pretty vocal melodies courtesy of Rebecca Silverberg and Tasha Cyr, but there’s such an abundance of similar music out that there its all too easy to dismiss Longstanding as more of the same.

The album does possess its interesting moments, though. “Talks A Lot” suddenly bursts into a thick, effect-laden guitar solo that would fit into droning shoegaze a lot more comfortably than it does in a mid-tempo folk song. “Geography” is loaded with a persistent, meandering squeal that sits low in the mix, giving the impression that an entirely more violent song is happening somewhere just out of earshot. “Library” lurches about on ominous percussion that is completely at odds with the rest of the song.

Outside of these few moments, Longstanding is far too familiar. If Belleisle were to focus more on their darker leanings in the future, they could be onto something. For now, they have a ways to go.