Somnium

Before moving to the white-noise shoegazing tendencies of There's Always Someplace You'd Rather Be, Sianspheric seemed fairly dedicated to the more ambient end of dream poppy — as its title suggests, Somnium has a slow, hazy feel that draws from the most sleepy work of bands like Slowdive and Kitchens of Distinction. This sound is utterly pleasant in and of itself, and will doubtlessly appeal to adherents of the most blissed-out pop genres, but Somnium gets most interesting when its constructs its guitars around off-kilter songwriting — tracks like "This Window" actually resemble some of Red House Painters' dreamier work, and it's in spots like this that Somnium offers something truly inventive.