The third album by Spires That in the Sunset Rise -- their second for the excellent Secret Eye label -- finds the quartet's ability at beautiful, shadowy music well in hand. Like labelmate Larkin Grimm, trying to say that their work is "acid folk" or freak folk" or whatever other label is around seems far too limiting -- it's a handy tag which doesn't accurately convey the striking mystery of songs like the opening "Spike Fiddle Song," which features singer Kathleen Baird on said instrument as a keening, unsettled counterpoint to her coolly mystic vocal. The band's work emphasizes spare, space-filled arrangements, the better to let individual elements either complement each other just so -- sometimes the echo generated by separate instruments such as autoharp and guitar perfectly blends -- and other times to let one particular musical element stand out briefly, as though the band itself is gently catching its breath before continuing. When Spires undertake a full arrangement, as on the swirling, seemingly chaotic "Sea Shanty," the effect is wonderfully disorienting and discordant, vocals there providing a relatively calming center. Baird and Taralie Peterson handle nearly all the singing and, presumably, most of the lyrics, which are often striking free-verse portraits of emotional turmoil using nature-based metaphors. An absolute standout is "Morning Song," with its extended introduction, slow and deliberate, suddenly shifting into a peppy sounding but still melancholic arrangement with the lead vocal sounding like a tremulous, nervous spirit. After a pause, Taralie Peterson's fiddle and Georgia Vallas' banjo step to the fore, while Baird on mbira sets a steady pace as the vocals return to a strangely soothing prominence before the fiddle leads into a final haunting conclusion. It's a perfect pocket epic that the band create here, and representative of the excellence of This Is Fire in general. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide