Audio Remasterer: Dalton Brand.

The third full-length solo outing from ex-Sunny Day Real Estate/Fire Theft frontman Jeremy Enigk strips away the lush orchestration that made 2006's wildly uneven WORLD WAITS the hi-fi brother to 1996's lo-fi chamber pop masterpiece RETURN OF THE FROG QUEEN. For the most part, OK BEAR bears the signature marks of its creator. Enigk's undeniably rich and powerful voice has never sounded better, and his enigmatic lyrics remain resplendent with biblical imagery and magnetic poetry-engineered spiritual vagaries.

The third full-length solo outing from ex-Sunny Day Real Estate/Fire Theft frontman Jeremy Enigk strips away the lush orchestration that made 2006's wildly uneven World Waits the hi-fi brother to 1996's lo-fi chamber pop masterpiece Return of the Frog Queen. For the most part, OK Bear bears the signature marks of its creator. Enigk's undeniably rich and powerful voice has never sounded better, and his enigmatic lyrics remain resplendent with biblical imagery and magnetic poetry-engineered spiritual vagaries. The album starts off promising with the serpentine "Mind Idea," a sonic sequel of sorts to the World Waits' gem "Been Here Before," followed by the fuzzy, Sunny Day-esque "Late of Camera." OK Bear slows down a bit in the middle, but the electrifying emo-punk/power pop jewel "Life's Too Short" and the gorgeous closer "Sant Feliu de Guixols" will please both longtime fans and newcomers alike. ~ James Christopher Monger

The third full-length solo outing from ex-Sunny Day Real Estate/Fire Theft frontman Jeremy Enigk strips away the lush orchestration that made 2006's wildly uneven World Waits the hi-fi brother to 1996's lo-fi chamber pop masterpiece Return of the Frog Queen. For the most part, OK Bear bears the signature marks of its creator. Enigk's undeniably rich and powerful voice has never sounded better, and his enigmatic lyrics remain resplendent with biblical imagery and magnetic poetry-engineered spiritual vagaries, but in removing the complex arrangements that have haunted nearly every one of his post-Sunny Day projects, he's exposed his weakest batch of songs to date. The album starts off promisingly with the serpentine "Mind Idea," a sonic sequel of sorts to the World Waits gem "Been Here Before," followed by the fuzzy, Sunny Day-esque "Late of Camera," but it's on OK Bear's third offering that things begin to unravel. "April Storm" is the true litmus test for listeners, as its strict, midtempo, adult alternative rock trappings quickly become the modus operandi, and despite offering up a brief respite with the electrifying emo-punk/power pop jewel "Life's Too Short" and the gorgeous closer "Sant Feliu de Guixols," those trappings will ultimately defeat longtime fans who keep spinning OK Bear in the hopes of revealing a misunderstood classic. ~ James Christopher Monger