The first time you hear the latest Sophe Lux release, Waking the Mystics (available now), your memory might flood with glittering bits and pieces of other artists — Kate Bush, the Decemberists, Queen — but by the second or third time around, you’ll be hard-pressed to categorize this Portland, Oregon–based quintet. The band’s second album is packed with ambitious songs that range from moody minor-key melodies to full-throttle majestic mini–rock operas.
Sophe Lux’s lead singer and songwriter, Gwyneth Haynes, is the sister of flamboyant filmmaker Todd Haynes (Velvet Goldmine, Far from Heaven) and clearly has inherited a family flair for theatrics. Her voice has a wondrous, shape-shifting quality — soft and delicate one moment, manic and banshee-like the next — as the group cheekily tackles topics from somnambulism to robots. Don’t miss the standout tracks “Target Market,” “Little Soldier of Time,” and the awesomely schizophrenic “Electra 33.”
sample tracks on the band’s MySpace page
Waking the Mystics
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