Plaza

As with all of the songs on Plaza, when the sum of that triptych of voices converges, it’s really a beautiful thing to hear.

In boldly delving into their pop sensibilities, the group have created an album that encompasses their intriguing convictions for different genres and refined it into a record of high quality.

Even if Quilt don't always find the answers they're looking for on Plaza, they've found some of their most confident and cohesive music.

The only times Plaza comes across as less than convincing are the moments where Shane Butler and company tip their hand a tad too heavily, such as on closing number "Own Ways," which falls just short of featuring faux English accents and sounds like Quilt’s musical answer to a '60s mod costume party. Elsewhere, though, they steer clear of slavish recreation, cleverly revealing new wrinkles in the arrangements from one song to the next.

Quilt are a group well aware of their strengths but not willing to overplay them at the cost of their distinctive balance, and Plaza is stronger for it.

Songs distort from their structures, allowing for a gelatinous cortege that serves to distinguish the album with flair and maintain a fetching edginess throughout.

If Plaza doesn’t wholly satisfy from start to finish, it’s more than a mere transitional album. Call it a pathway forward that’s anything but straightforward, and is all the more beguiling because of its asymmetrical digressions.

Plaza, finds them bedding down with a more cautious and concise approach. [Mar 2016, p.78]

It is a record from another era, one that deepens and expands with each consecutive listen. [Jan/Feb 2016, p.58]

The marathon middle section paves the way for the record's standout final songs. 'Padova', in particular, slows Plaza's propulsion peacefully and formlessly.

It’s carefully and competently constructed, palatable but perilously short on whimsy.

With the singles and two other best songs placed at the front end, how does the second half fare? In direct comparison, poorly.