Down the River of Golden Dreams

Okkervil River's Down the River of Golden Dreams takes the band's hallmarks -- lush, eclectic orchestration that evokes chamber pop and soul, lapel-gripping emotional urgency, and the lyrical, direct songwriting of frontman Will Sheff -- and expands and elevates them in service of a stunningly ambitious set of new songs. If last year's Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See was the middle of the darkest night of the year, Down the River of Golden Dreams is the earliest light of a morning that could either bring the first breeze of spring or a battalion of tornadoes.