After Akron/Family's new album Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free joyfully clobbers you with the muscular funk of " Everyone is Guilty ," the album slides into this glistening number. "River" is the smooth and cool antidote to the choppy fire of its predecessor. Spare percussion and the faint plink of guitar notes shuffle along under sweet, solitary vocals, rising up only slightly on bursts of cascading notes before the chorus. But while this river is surely wide and slow-moving, and not quick and populated with rapids, the song isn't all lazy floating. Voices and horns swell up and fill out the end of the song, giving us yet another beautiful collective moment from the band.

 

"River" might notgrab you by the face and shake you awake the way "Everyone is Guilty" does, but this song has its own impressive size and subtle energy. Hard to believe these guys are just a trio now, because they sound bigger (and better) than ever. 

 

Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free is out May 5 on Dead Oceans . [Stereogum]