Album Leaf, The
In A Safe Place (swirl)
Sub Pop and The Album Leaf celebrate the 20th anniversary of their landmark album In a Safe Place with a lovely limited-edition blue vinyl LP repress. Since it's original release in 2004, the album has sold over 50,000 copies, garnered critical acclaim, and led to the songs "On Your Way" and "Eastern Glow" appearing in the FOX show The O.C. Jimmy LaValle has released critically-acclaimed solo work as The Album Leaf (the name comes from a Chopin piece) since 1999's mellow An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (Linkwork). During the realization of 2003's Lifetime or More (Arena Rock) and Seal Beach (Acuarela) EPs, he prepared himself to take on a new direction by founding his rich, textural documents on minimalist beats. At the time of 2003's recording sessions, however, nothing could have prepared LaValle for the experience he had in Iceland. LaValle befriended Sigur Ros on their first U.S. tour, and they encouraged him northward to Iceland. With the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Rs and Mm LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, In a Safe Place masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession's Pall Jenkins, Sigur Rs' Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking results from this newly collaborative process.