When it came time to follow up their tiny masterpiece, 2002's November, Azure Ray's Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor left behind the Southern comfort of Athens, GA, for Omaha. Both of Azure Ray's significant others already resided in the quaint Nebraska town, so the two opted to take a chance there as well. Such a change worked in their favor on Hold on Love, for the two have captured a cohesiveness that was lacking on previous Azure Ray albums. Fink and Taylor's gothic dreamscape of wonder and melancholy is fleshed out with their breathy warm vocals as the main focus. Lite strings, percussion, and assorted acoustic guitars and woodwinds flow nicely throughout while misted pianos accent Hold on Love's overall prettiness. The sentiment of "These White Lights Will Bend to Make Blue" explores Azure Ray's desire to sift through the old to make sense of what's new, which is also reflective of the group's maturation as artists. "The Drinks We Drank Last Night" and "Sea of Doubts" may echo darker thoughts, but Hold on Love pines for tight fit in love and all of its loveliness, good and bad. One thing that remained the same was having longtime producer Eric Bachmann on board. Bachmann fully realizes Azure Ray's cathartic song style, and for Hold on Love he and Azure Ray reworked the group's usual ethereality for their brightest material yet. ~ MacKenzie Wilson

A marked departure from earlier Ray releases, HOLD ON LOVE finds the exquisite vocal duo of Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor--working under the guidance of producer Eric Bachmann (Crooked Fingers, Archers of Loaf)--adding a bevy of real and electronic instruments, to their usual lonesome acoustic sound, with an almost-mainstream result. The Sarah McLachlan-style glossy beats and strings of "New Resolution" and the bouncy sunshine of "If You Fall" will have the pair's melancholic fan base wiping away their tears in disbelief. There's even a merry harpsichord break in the sweeping "Nothing Like a Song."

Not to worry, though, as "The Drinks We Drank Last Night" and the title track return to achingly fragile business as usual. With their soft yet powerful-as-prayer voices caressing each other over ghostly acoustic guitars, theremins, and distantly echoing beats, Azure Ray aren't about to lose their twin crowns as queens of slowcore, but thanks to Bachmann, they sound ready to occasionally leave the castle.