Mixed Emotions

If you've been waiting for something in the downtempo, ambient realm, or something that approaches trip-hop or electronic dance music but doesn't sound nearly as banal as most of the mainstream examples of the genres do, then you are going to want to pick up Mixed Emotions, the new album from L..A-based duo Digital Daggers, right now. Maybe you will resonate with the powerful lyrics of a track like “Bleed for Me” (“You won't feel the shadows/but they'll be closing in/You won't see me coming/but I'll rip you at the seams”), or feel the hairs on your neck stand up at the haunting, beautiful synth-and-piano-led instrumental “Purgatory.” Failing that, you probably will fall in love with singer Andrea Wasse and her clear, breathy, gorgeous delivery. “Angel,” a hypnotic slice of ambient piano pop featuring Wasse's repeated calls for someone to save her “from this hell,” and God help you if you try to resist the seductive beauty of “Nothing's Broken,” because you will utterly fail. You will love every second of the song, as well as the rest of this exceptional album.