New Zealand indie-pop act The Ruby Suns will release its fourth album, Christopher, on January 29th, 2013 via Sub Pop. The 10-track LP was written, performed, engineered, and produced by band leader Ryan McPhun, with mixing by Chris Coady (Beach House, Grizzly Bear). After splitting with his girlfriend, McPhun moved to Oslo, Norway in the winter of 2010. According to a press release, the notorious wayfarer at last found a home, inspired in part by the “icy architecture and sky-high fjords” along with the region’s high-profile gloss-pop scene.

Like the transformation from the bubbly tunes of 2006′s self-titled and 2008′s Sea Lions to the darker undertones of 2010′s Fight Softly, the group have changed musical directions once more, as evidenced by the lead single “Kingfisher Call Me”. Here, the band’s life-affirming aesthetic and shimmery melodies are coupled with ambiguous lyrics (“Dry your eyes/Is what to do/Don’t listen to anyone except for you”) and more electronic elements, resulting in a sound that’s far removed from McPhun’s beach bum days without forgetting that sense of wide-eyed optimism.

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