Sit. Lean back in your chair. In fact, go ahead and lie down when you turn on Candles in Daylight, the new album from Jed & Lucia. The threnody drifting out of your speakers will send you into a cataleptic reverie which it takes eleven tracks to break free from. It’s a harrowing haunting of the eardrums, a sweet little whisper in the key of Z. What I’m saying is, don’t put this on your iPod when you’re out in the world or you’re liable to miss your stop and travel straight on to the end of the line.

Candles in Daylight is aptly named: the music was so subtle that on my first listen it blended into the background of my brain like candlelight in the sun. It wasn’t until my second or third time through that I managed to quit drifting and concentrate on the songs that were taking me for such a ride. Both artists have impressively eclectic résumés and on this album it’s clear that their sensibilities weren’t home-grown in the Top 40 lab. Drawing on such diverse influences as Swedish folk songs, modern Brazilian groups, hip-hop and Bowie, it’s astonishing that these songs – which could have been mad mash-ups of trendy world-beats but, thank God, are not – have such an individual flavor.

Don’t play this album at a party or for a date. This is lonely music meant for a backdrop to conversations with yourself; if you’re the sort of person who talks to himself regularly, I highly recommend Candles in Daylight.

Favorite Track: Track 5, “Wasn’t Right”