Strange Land takes Yellow Ostrich deep into emotionally treacherous territory, balancing personal confession with teasingly oblique poetic gestures. Frontman Alex Schaaf lifts the album beyond the bedroom insularity of earlier YO projects with the involvement of new band members Michael Tapper and Jon Natchez. Schaaf hones his self-lacerating lyrical edge to a greater sharpness, ripping apart his own dreams and pretensions with unusual self-awareness. Tracks like “Elephant King” and “Marathon River” are unflinching internal monologues, saved from mere bleakness by their metaphoric wit and fiery attitude. The songs' volatile emotions are conveyed musically through taut yet expansive arrangements alive with bristling guitar lines, keening brass, and jittery rhythms. Bold touches abound, like the Motown beat propelling “Stay at Home” and the Wire-like angular grooves of “Daughter.” Though abrasive sounds predominate, Yellow Ostrich infuses the soft-rocking “Wear Suits” and the meditative, acoustic-centered “When All Is Dead” with the same vitality of its more confrontational tracks.