Around

In 2006, Tom Verlaine broke a 14-year silence by releasing two albums on the same day. Around is the instrumental collection, and it’s a more than worthy successor to Warm & Cool. At points, it feels even more diffuse than that album’s diffracted light, with Verlaine using slide and vibrato to allow his snake-y melodies to weave their way. Sometimes it’s tighter, more playful, as with the clicking “Rain, Sidewalk,” or the shuffling stumble of “A Burned Letter.” Around’s overarching mood is one of curiosity, though, a gentle kind of exploration, and a seductive unpredictability.