Review - Umbrellas

There's a swirl of mystery surrounding Umbrellas, which I must admit is somewhat confusing. A little research dug up that the group is basically St. Louis indie-rocker Scott Windsor (The Lyndsay Diaries) on some sort of side-project mission. He gathered up one group of players to help him record this record and uses another group when Umbrellas plays live. Why this information is difficult to track down, I'm not sure, as Windsor should be mighty proud to have his name stamped all over this album. Sprawling, melancholy chamber-pop may be de rigueur these days, but Windsor's take on it is nonetheless invigorating. His halfhearted vocals betray the sad, lush orchestrations swelling behind him and this debut disc manages to be powerfully introspective and sonically rich without being obnoxiously precious.