Jonathan Meiburg isn’t exactly a tourist anymore on this planet. When he’s not touring as the creative force behind Shearwater, he studies wildlife at some exotic archipelago or terra firma. Like nature, Meiburg continues to evolve both his music and supporting cast. Shearwater’s spectral, translucent masterpiece Rook is one of the finest records of this young century, whereas Animal Joy captures life’s immediacy and physicality to a tee.

That said, Shearwaters latest album Jet Plane and Oxbow is without question Meiburg’s most ambitious work to date. You could easily picture songs like Quiet Americans and Back Channels bellowing across bigger stadiums. Meiburg found a fruitful collaborator in film composer/multi-instrumentalist Brian Reitzell, who had a big hand in Air’s legendary score for The Virgin Suicides. Reitzell accumulated a wide range of synths and percussion that expand Jet Plane and Oxbow‘s sonic palette far beyond any other Shearwater LP.

Maybe that’s just our imagination though. Meiburg’s monumental voice has a way of levitating any dainty pop song to the upper scales. Shearwater is the only one in its kind, so whenever the band happens to play in the vicinity, it’s something to wholeheartedly cherish and behold.