Vancouver duo perfume tree have been at this since the early nineties, and dark gift sounds like the work of people who know exactly what they want. The seven tracks here pull from shoegaze, trip hop and darkwave without landing squarely in any of them. Guitars blur and shimmer, drum machines tick along at mid-tempo, and the vocals stay low in the mix, more texture than narrative.
Production is clean but never polished to a shine. Reverb does a lot of the work, stretching out the space between elements. Tracks like "the sea the sea" and "beyond all this" let synth pads and delayed guitar lines drift over steady programmed beats. It's patient music, built for headphones rather than background listening. The mood stays consistent across the album: overcast, a bit withdrawn, occasionally beautiful in a muted way.
This will appeal to anyone still drawn to the sound of early Portishead or Slowdive's quieter moments. It's not trying to reinvent anything, just doing a specific thing well. Available as a download or on vinyl.
