Espers started appearing around the Philadelphia area in 2002 and quickly established themselves as one of the beautiful new bands in the world these days. Since Espers self-titled (and acclaimed) first album was released in early 2004, a lot has gone down. Addressing “today” directly, the band collated the ups and downs that formed their lives over the last two years and infused their new songs with a light and darkness that proved transformative when the time to make music came again. And so we thank the gods for the light and darkness.

From the beginning, Espers has been a living growing thing. II finds the group at sextet size, with greater powers and capabilities than before. Still, the original spirit of the band — the American ideal of the democracy (that is in no way reflected in its current goverment) — rules Espers in everything they do, gives them true freedoms to reach for the spiritual and the fun at once, and to make their music from it.

The sound of ESPERS II was achieved using a mad variety of instruments, from your standard everyday Martin 6-string acoustics, Fender jazzbass and drumkit to more exotic implements such as doumbek, dholak and male & female larynx (which we assume are swung around in the air to produce a recorder-like sound). Espers at play tap into their shared spaces with joy and a sense of humor (and wonder, naturally). The musical outcome is a friendly new sensation — as the record plays, it warms the room and dims the lights with dense yet agile atmospherics, allowing you the listener to relax, despite and yet still in communion with the realities of our present day.