Many bands mix loud-quiet-loud tactics with shoegaze sensibilities, but few do it with the intricacy of Wintersleep. With a keen ear for pop melodies, they tear open epic anthems with the roar of frantic, rapid-fire guitar work. Straight-up rockers are split in two with seesaw riffs and cataclysmic drum fills. Even after using a phase pedal at full wash, they can still hold their heads high.

Vocally, front man Paul Murphy sounds a bit like Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder without the cheesy operatics, or like Rheostatic Martin Tielli without the squelch. He’s got a sweet lilt that lends itself to the band’s pitch-perfect atmospherics and has just enough edge to play off the ragged edges of Wintersleep’s powerhouse singalongs. Whether he’s telling tales of urgency or slipping into mantra-like choruses, the results are equally engaging.

All of this comes together on album closer “Miasmal Smoke & the Yellow Bellied Freaks.” With an indie-rock build of the highest calibre, this eight-minute opus is the topper on an album of brilliant tension. It’s engaging, it’s massive and it’s beautiful. It’s everything you have come to expect from Wintersleep and more.