Parisians Cyann & Ben offer a nice take on the far-past-saturation-point post-rock genre with its third album, Sweet Beliefs. The quartet's wide-canvas songs are less rocking and more gently textured than those of its peers, with piano, analog synths, and acoustic guitars tethering the band's space-rock tendencies back to the earth (and to the psychedelia of the European folk music of the '70s). Cyann & Ben's dual vocalists harmonize with quiet reverence, as if we're listening to them narrate the slow expansion of the universe, and as a result there's an intimacy to go along with the majesty. It's a richly hewn, appealing sound, a sort of Gallic counterpart to recent work by Espers. The only problem is that there's little to differentiate Sweet Beliefs from Cyann & Ben's previous two records.

***

Band: http://www.cyannandben.com/

Label: http://www.everrecords.com/