A few weeks after receiving Trespassers William's third album, I accidentally spilled a glass of Diet Coke on the liner notes. And while at first I muttered the curses of a music obsessive who won't so much as touch a jewel case without first washing his hands, it later occurred to me that my saturated CD booklet was a pretty apt metaphor for Having, a low-key dream-pop record so immersed in atmosphere that it seems almost waterlogged. Like shoegazing forbears Slowdive and Mazzy Star, the members of Trespassers William saturate their beautifully simple songs in pooling guitars, resonating keyboards, and heavy reverb. Chord changes roll through like slow-moving waves, and singer Anna-Lynne Williams stretches out every languid syllable as far as she can, a buoy gently floating out to some distant horizon. There isn't much variety between songs, and Williams's wispy melodies stubbornly avoid hooks, but that's okay with music this hypnotically gorgeous -- anything that stuck out would just get in the way of the undertow.

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Band site: http://www.trespasserswilliam.com/