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James Baluyut has been making wonderful, under-the-radar pop music for roughly 15 years now, first as a guitarist for the marvelous Versus and then as leader of +/- (a.k.a. Plus/Minus), which stripped Versus' brisk pop-rock into something a bit more fragile and subtle. A sweetly infectious sleeper, "Snowblind" unfurls in the opposite direction, starting out chilly and dainty before bursting into a big, bold, full-blooded pop gem.
It's a technique that won't exactly stun fans of Baluyut's other work — or that of Death Cab for Cutie, for that matter — but it's executed wonderfully. As gentle as the song can be, every second of "Snowblind" radiates tension and momentum, even as +/- pulls back the reins and simplifies the arrangement long enough for a memorable closer. The result is a snappy little pop firecracker, but it reveals more depth with each welcome exposure.
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