Malibu Nights

In January, LANY frontman Paul Jason Klein went through a bad breakup. Like, really bad. To heal, and maybe also to escape, he wrote the band’s sophomore album in just a few weeks. "Way too much whiskey in my blood/I feel my body giving up,” he croons on the aching title track. “Can I hold on for another night? What do I do with all this time?” Even though LANY stands for Los Angeles New York, their sound has always felt distinctly Californian: big hooks, warm chords, and plenty of reverb. Trading their youthful ebullience for heart-on-sleeve despair (“Thru These Tears”), the band has never sounded more polished or grown-up. Producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, The 1975) is partly responsible; he adds a retro synth-pop glow to songs like “Thick and Thin” and “I Don’t Wanna Love You Anymore.” The best part, though, is that Klein hasn’t lost his signature optimism. By the time we get to “Valentine’s Day,” he’s putting himself back out there.