Twin Shadow: Cool Shade

George Lewis Jr. was born in the Dominican Republic, grew up in Florida and bummed around Boston playing in punk bands before finally moving to Brooklyn and breaking out as Twin Shadow with 2010's Forget. That record, co-produced with Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, landed at a moment when New York and the wider indie rock world were infatuated with undulating '80s-style dream pop (and its beat-augmented electronic cousin chillwave), and Twin Shadow ably mined that sound for both its shimmering guitar textures and melancholic moods. It was an album steeped in the past, both in its early indie rock nostalgia and, more conflictingly, in its remembrances of Lewis' childhood, which supplies the album with some of its lyrical subjects.

Sophomore album Confess maintains Twin Shadow's established dream pop style but flips the focus from Lewis' past to his present days as an engaging performer. The cover has him posing as a leather-clad bad boy, and in online magazine interviews he's spoken frankly about a touring life of sex and drugs on the road, as well as his reckless love of motorcycles. Inside, Lewis' dark side is well represented in lyrics about love gone wrong, even as the music remains perfectly sweet. Listen to feature track "Five Seconds" on Google Play and get covered in Lewis' beautiful hues. – Eric Grandy, Google Play

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