Circulatory System

With fans still grieving over the passing of indie-pop experimentalists Olivia Tremor Control, founding member Will Cullen Hart called his friends back into the studio for a new endeavor, Circulatory System. With three core OTC members and a slew of additional musicians on board, CS picked up, in essence, where OTC left off: making sprawling, orchestral, psychedelic pop that delightfully careens toward the abyss of excess and failure, only to recover and deliver one last astounding, visceral blow. “Pastiche” is a word familiar to OTC critics and reviewers, and it can freely be applied here: Circulatory System is a maze of textures, sounds and themes, threaded together in a glorious patchwork that feels more complete and dynamic than OTC efforts. Bookended between the rag-tag choir that opens both the lovely “Yesterday’s World” (giggling children and an endearing clarinet are the icing) and the sparse, repetitive “Forever,” are the sounds of soaring, lush pop (“Waves of Bark And Light,” “Lovely Universe,” “Days To Come”), cosmic, universal hugs (“Round,” “A Peek”), darkly pensive naval-gazing (“Inside Blasts,” “The Pillow”), and a world — or two — more of startlingly beautiful music.