William Mylar

Huh? Self-professed local folk-wave artist William Mylar’s new album opens with a title cut that sounds like a Lou Rawls-style supper-club rave-up. The production isn’t quite Sigma Sound caliber, but the horns and Mylar’s sotto-voce Barry White vocal tags are a nice, left-field surprise. From there, Mylar swings into more familiar terrain. Well, kinda. Mylar has a strong, Bryan Ferry-like voice; his band exudes a goofy aging-hippie lightness and isn’t afraid to reach for exotic touches, like mandolin or vibes. The only real weakness might be in the songwriting, but even that has a certain loopy charm that grows on you. Oh, and Xenophilia’s Amy Anne takes the lead vocal on “Right On Time.” It sounds like they had a pretty good time making this, which counts for something.