Better-known has half of BlackieBlueBird, Nils Lassen has put together his first "solo" effort. Continuing in the dense-populated songs of his past, Lassen has carefully crafted some of the most complex and ambitious art-pop songs I've heard this side of Ward White.

Nils Lassen Fingerprints (Aenaos Records)

But while White trends toward the minimalist side of things, Lassen is full maximalist, blowing out the sound in all directions. Multi-tracked vocals, ringing percussion, guitars, keyboards . . . the effect is almost symphonic. As if he thinks he's making a statement or something.

Lyrically, maybe not. But the music rises and falls, explodes and crashes with metronomic passion. These songs never lose focus despite the recurrent bombast. Indeed, that lush sound and aggressive construction are what make this album such a delight.

I'm generally tempted to call this kind of stuff "everything pop", but Lassen's ambitions might be even greater than that. I'm always there for someone taking a shot at the moon, and I'm even happier when there's a soft landing. This album sets itself up for failure on all sides, and blows by all that with spectacular aplomb. The glory is palpable.

Jon Worley