Joy Kills Sorrow - This Unknown Science

Joy Kill Sorrow - Acclaimed Boston-based new-traditionalist string amalgam follow up last year's fine Darkness Sure Becomes This City with their third studio album..."We like experimenting and stretching boundaries," says guitarist Matthew Arcara, a sense of non-formulaic adventure that's summed up by the album's title...like The Low Anthem, the quintet may be grounded instrumentally in traditional bluegrass and Americana, but the core of the music feels more like poseur-free indie folk...Release: This Unknown Science (September 13, Signature Sounds) // Sounds like: a fascinating hybrid of bluegrass, folk and a touch of Celtic,  the album boasts exceptional playing, memorable songs and an attitude bent on mixing things up in unexpected ways...

Quote: "We're always looking after the interest of the music as a whole, even if it means working for months on new material, or making big changes long after we've settled into an arrangement. We all have plenty of opportunities to show our talents in our music, but it's the understated approach we usually take that makes our music special." -- JKS's Emma Beaton // What we like: the swirling stringed instruments that serve as the interwoven backdrop for Beaton's ethereal vocals on "Reservations" evolve into a hypnotic near-minimalist blur..."New Man" turns the tables on any preconceived delicacy at play as spirited singing and a breakneck pace hardly pause to catch a breath..."Jason" pulses with killer melodic hooks and overlapping time signatures...virtuoso playing turns "The Ice Is Starting to Melt" into genre-blurring chamber pop of the highest order...

Joy Kills Sorrow - "The Ice Is Starting to Melt" (from The Unknown Science)

Joy Kills Sorrow - "Reservations" (from The Unknown Science)