illuminea, Out of Our Mouths

On Out of Our Mouths, Philly’s illuminea come off like three different bands all kind of playing in one room, like a bunch of friends who each have their own musical ideas and who’re all talented enough to play off one another’s songs. Which, when you look at it, is pretty much the case — started by college friends Jen Appel (vocals/guitar) and Marc Goodman (vocals/guitar), the band has since swelled to encompass seven highly skilled musicians (not to mention all the guest stars on the disc, folks like Tony Maimone or Zeena Parkins), but they’ve never lost that friends-just-playing-around feel.

And no, that’s not a bad thing, since all three songwriters who toss their hats into the musical ring (Minna Choi, on vocals/keys, rounds out the trio) have some interesting ideas. Each has their own specific style, so much so that after a few tracks I was able to pick who wrote what fairly accurately (okay, it helps that they each sing their own songs, but still).

Appel’s beautifully clear, unadorned voice makes me think of Aimee Mann or Sarge’s Elizabeth Elmore, and she creates some quiet, melancholy, delicately affecting pieces of indie-chamber pop. Goodman, on the other hand, swirls towards psych-pop, channeling Lennon on the swooping, gorgeous, Spiritualized-esque “Living In Sin” and layering sound upon sound upon sound on the more uncertain “Build Your Own”; his one oddball track is closer “I Can’t Wait,” which makes me think of ’50s doo-wop. Choi’s a little harder to pin down — she starts off sounding like the Cardigans or Peter Bjorn & John with the funky, candy-shiny “Homewrecker” (which also has what sounds like the coolest, tiniest piano ever), then kind of fumbles through “To Lose You As A Friend” and turns in a deranged showtune with “Sleep It Off.”

Now, considering the three songwriters are basically each doing their own thing and dragging the rest of their Polyphonic Spree-ish orchestra along for the ride, it’s surprising that illuminea’s music holds together at all. And yes, it does. I’ve got my favorites, naturally — “Homewrecker,” “Done By Hand,” “Living In Sin” — but as a whole, the album’s a nicely warm collection of pretty pop tracks, most of which would sound pretty good played on a quiet, comfortable autumn evening when there’s nothing much to do but hang with friends.