Champion of the Noisy Negatives

Portland is widely known for its wealth of dark-pop songwriters, and Southerly is one of its very best. Picking up where 2007's celebrated Storyteller and the Gossip Columnist left off, listeners can hear the natural progression toward what ultimately became Champion: a swooning, eerie, beautiful, morose, and uplifting soundscape that serves as an undeniable reminder of the tension, release, intensity, and intrinsic harmony that all of us experience and celebrate in life. Unlike the previous disc, Champion is a largely instrumental affair, using vocals as additional layers rather than the music's guide.