slenderbodies have had a quiet year, having dropped their well-received debut album Korembi last year. ‘cherry blossom’ marks their return in style, reminding us of their special brand of dream-pop. Trademark falsetto vocals are what catch the ear at first, but there is something impressive going on in the track’s accompaniment. They used “a ton of granular synthesis. If you’re unfamiliar, this kind of synthesis involves taking a really small sample (a “grain”) of a sound and warping it through repetition or stretching... when we sat down to write ‘cherry blossoms’, we wanted to apply the same technique to our guitar. Every synth in the song is some amalgamation of vocals or guitar, granularized and melded with other found sounds.” It’s an intricate, detailed way of making a track, and the pay-off is huge. -Dan Peeke