Pebble sees Lemuria’s songwriting territory expanding far beyond the sonic landscape displayed on the band’s earlier releases—songwriters Alex Kerns and
Sheena Ozzella effortlessly add shifting time signatures and intricate song structures into their repertoire while retaining their trademark vocal harmonies. Lyrical brevity has long been a strength of this band, and Pebble doesn’t change what isn’t broken: standout track “Pleaser” laces five lines across three minutes, and first single “Chautauqua County” meditates on familial disappointments in under ten lines. The musicianship on Pebble is leaps and bounds above previous albums; it feels like every note on this record was meticulously (and paradoxically, effortlessly) planned out. The only downside here is that it ends all too quickly.
This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.