1. Could It Be   4:01
2. Familiar   5:01
3. Unfortunate   3:40
4. Frozen   4:47
5. I Won't Fall   3:35
6. Nothing Else Is Real  3:40
7. Made For Us   4:45
8. Line in the Sand  3:37
9. To Protect   3:58
10.Where We Are   4:09

I first delved into the minds of Ian Mackintosh and Ben Braun when they independently released The Sound in 2008. An album full of succinct (longest song is 3m37s) synthpop gems (not to abuse the synthpop term... I'd put them more in the ambient/organic electronic pop category) that can only be fully and truly absorbed via headphones I was thrilled when Mr. Mario Morales (Filter Creative Group) informed me that Mackintosh Braun released Where We Are on 09/21/2010. Far from a household b(r)and I was happy to get my ears on a copy of the album to find out what the Oregon-based duo had been doing during their two year absence from the release scene.

After a full listen through I'm happy to report that their delivery of euphaural, digitally infused harmonics has done their first album justice. While The Sound may have defined their vision of musical creation, Where We Are cemented their commitment to that vision. Their expression, while almost predictable, pleasantly fuses to differing moods without ever truly escaping from the sentimentality it evokes. It's as though love, anger, and sadness were simultaneously squeezed through a trying-to-see-the-silver-lining synthesizer . One thing worth mentioning was that this time their two scoops of bittersweet pop had a few flavors of something a little darker (Nothing Else Is Real) and funkier (Line In The Sand) swirled in there.

Worth the while. And throwback to The Sound if you can't get enough because that album is delicious too.