One of these things is not like the other: talent, unique style, critical acclaim, Skrillex. Okay, maybe I'm being a tad harsh (although if I were to write a review for Skrillex's debut album Recess on this blog, I can assure you it would be fiercely negative), but if there's one thing Sonny "Skrillex" Moore is good at, it's spotting talent. Hundred Waters, the strange, avant-folk electronic group, is signed to OWSLA for whatever reason, and have so far released on it their stunning, gorgeous debut self-titled record from 2012, and now, their 2014 follow up, The Moon Rang Like a Bell. Amidst their labelmates, they are the only artist on the roster that isn't peddling the same homogenous, dead-horse-affixed electro-brostep bullshit. Not only that but their style is pretty damn original.

Their 2012 album was a toy box of subtle, precise, pithy electronic voyages that constantly shifted and were hard to pin down to any particular genre. Their synthpop peers that attempt the same vague approach of quiet, idm-inflected electronic pop, like Austra, Blue Hawaii, and Damon Albarn's most recently released album Everyday Robots, frequently fall into the dreaded ennui valley, with Albarn's newest release being especially guilty. Yet, despite similar sonic elements, Hundred Waters are never boring. A small victory in and of itself, they go a step beyond and craft some of the most satisfying electronic music today. The Moon Rang Like a Bell ups the ante, and completely trounces their prior effort - the songs are catchier, the wealth of sounds are more expansive, and the musicianship behind the album better than ever. Critics who aren't already considering this for their year end lists are flat out fucked up.

Throughout the record, there is a clear dichotomy of analog versus digital; the warmth of real drums and guitars are clashed against the sparkling drones and sharp, slippery synths, and nowhere is that clearer than in the first full-length track, "Murmur". It works a slow build that masterfully layers these elements without sounding crowded, which is a trick that Hundred Waters are not shy about showing off, then the "drop" comes, and the subtle melodies get torn from the background and placed front and center. It's moments like this that really drive the point home just how talented these
kids are. Their classical training shines through on tracks like "Broken Blue", one of the twisted ballads of sorts on the record, with the hushed, out-of-focus piano hovering behind singer Nicole Miglis' whisper-chic vocals. Nicole is the real hidden weapon The Moon Rang has; her devilish, painfully self-aware poetry, performed in her perpetually quiet, yet impassioned manner, blends deceivingly well with the equally subtle music and gives it this difficult-to-describe power and immediacy.

"Xtalk", one of the singles, is also coincidentally one of the 'loudest' songs here. The twinkling pianos and swirling synths, riding the syncopated, shuffling drum pattern begs for people to pair up and boogie down. "I don’t know who you want me to be/But tomorrow I’m leaving/I won’t do it kneeling," Nicole sings in the bridge, which shows how misleadingly shallow the lyrics can come across as being. It's surprisingly easy to imagine vapid teenagers posting these lines on Twitter with the misguided belief that it represents their broken hearts, but what elevates lines like this is both the context within the song (a tongue-in-cheek look at a yelling match between lovers), and the way it is sung, with the nuances and fully human inflection. This is indeed electronic music, but it's far more human than one would expect.

Deeper cuts like "Chambers (Passing Train)" bring drones and choked up crooning, and first single "Down From the Rafters", with its punchy inverted strings recall just how superior this album and Hundred Waters in general are to the meager competition. Few do it so well and juggle the two portions of the genre "electronic avant-folk" half as decently, while keeping the quality above a simple musical curiosity. These guys are in it for the long haul, and whatever else they release next is sure to make The Moon Rang look like garbage, just as it does to their debut. Shit, that's pretty hard to imagine. Don't miss out on The Moon Rang Like a Bell. Seriously.