Top 12 Albums of 2014: Real Estate — Atlas

Interestingly — and perhaps intentionally — an album titled Atlas is short on definitive geographical guidance and certainty. Other than the vague guideposts of skies and horizons, missed connections, directional uncertainty, imposing distances and untrustworthy altered landscapes abound in the lyrics.

Finally, the last track, the appropriately named “Navigator,” offers some hope of escape and certainty. The narrator instructs someone to “cross the kitchen floor/steal out the back door/past the monument” to a meeting spot “where the pavement ends.” And suddenly, very specific directions have turned a bit more vague and surreal, slightly reminiscent of Shel Silverstein’s classic poem “Where the Sidewalk Ends.”

The band’s previous album, Days, felt like a relaxing summer day, and the music on Atlas isn’t too different: soft and dreamy. But the persistent sense of searching in the lyrics gives Atlas a less lackadaisical feel.

This would be an ideal soundtrack for a solo daytime drive on winding back roads. The scenery is pretty, and the gentle looping repetition might lull you, but this isn’t a superficial experience. There’s a lot of weighty internal discourse taking place.

Note 1: This Top 12 list is not ranked. It’s generally a good idea to have 2014 coverage be published in 2014. Before Christmas, even. If I had to rank these, we wouldn’t be done until next August.

Note 2: More on the “Put Your Money Where Your Typing Is” selection methodology here. Short version: These are the 12 albums I bought on CD/vinyl/both this year.