Album Review: Lower Dens - Nootropics

Nootropics, more commonly known as smart drugs, are used for cognitive and neural enhancement. Baltimore five-piece Lower Dens have named their second album after these somewhat controversial mental aids ("boosting intelligence", of course, is a highly subjective thing), but the icy psychedelia they unveil here is certainly an aural enhancement for the mind. Lower Dens' debut Twin-Hand Movement expanded on the lo-fi feel of vocalist Jana Hunter's solo records where she mined a particularly bent vein of acid-tinged folk, all four-track claustrophobia and spartan arrangements. On Nootropics, Lower Dens move confidently into an altogether more widescreen realm, with songs dealing with language, technology and nature. 

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