Few bands mesh the gentleness of pastoral folk with tense distorted freak-outs the way Wye Oak does, and "Take It In" is one of the best examples of their protean sound to date. If it's at all representative of their upcoming album, The Knot, then this album is set to outshine the already excellent sonic haze of their first album for Merge, In Children. Jenn Wasner's voice drifts wistfully over the track, asserting itself just enough to hold up to the fuzzed-out, twangy onslaught of guitars that interrupts her melancholy wandering at the end of each verse. The song stretches out to nearly six minutes, but it never feels bloated, as the old quiet-load-quiet move feels like it's given new breath and space to grow in the hands of Wye Oak. The quiet is gentler with them, more haunting. And the loud has a resonant depth that anchors you to the track, drifting with it through the dark waters it navigates.

The Knot is out July 21 on Merge. [You Ain't No Picasso]