Copia

Following a string of increasingly remarkable albums, Eluvium's Matthew Cooper set out to broaden his instrumental palette, while maintaining the uncanny emotional resonance that has become his trademark. The result is "Copia", an hour-long epic that applies Eluvium's heartache-inducing ether to a symphony of strings, brass, keyboards, and piano. Noticeably absent but hardly missed are the washes of guitars that color most of Eluvium's previous material. This serves as proof that the instrument is not Eluvium's driving force, but a catalyst; a vehicle to that netherworld in the back of your head where your life starts to uncontrollably reevaluate itself. RIYL: Sigur Ros, Brian Eno, the Album Leaf, Stars of the Lid, Explosions in the Sky.