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**Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs ★★★★☆**

After three decades of crafting their singular brand of indie rock alchemy, Yo La Tengo arrived at their thirteenth studio album with the kind of confidence that only comes from complete artistic freedom. "Popular Songs," released in September 2009, found the Hoboken trio—Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley, and James McNew—in a remarkably contemplative mood, delivering what might be their most cohesive statement since "I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One."

The album emerged from a period of relative quiet for the band, following 2006's "I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass," which had seen them exploring more aggressive territory. But rather than continuing down that path, Yo La Tengo retreated into their collective musical unconscious, crafting songs that felt both intimate and expansive. The recording process, undertaken in their usual unhurried fashion, allowed the band to explore the spaces between notes as much as the notes themselves.

Musically, "Popular Songs" represents Yo La Tengo at their most melodically generous. The album floats somewhere between dream pop and chamber folk, with occasional detours into their trademark noise excursions. It's the sound of a band completely comfortable in their own skin, unafraid to embrace beauty without irony or apology. The production, handled by the band themselves along with Roger Moutenot, creates an enveloping warmth that draws listeners into their sonic cocoon.

The opening track, "Here to Fall," sets the album's contemplative tone with Kaplan's gentle vocals floating over a bed of acoustic guitar and subtle orchestration. It's a song about acceptance and surrender that feels like a mission statement for the entire record. The gorgeous "If It's True" follows, featuring some of Hubley's most affecting drumwork—subtle polyrhythms that propel the song forward while maintaining its dreamy atmosphere.

"Periodically Double or Triple" stands as perhaps the album's most adventurous moment, a nine-minute instrumental journey that showcases the band's ability to create narrative arc without words. The piece builds from whispered beginnings into a glorious cacophony before settling into a peaceful resolution—classic Yo La Tengo dynamics executed with masterful restraint. Meanwhile, "More Stars Than There Are in Heaven" offers one of their most straightforwardly beautiful pop songs, with Kaplan's vocals carrying a melody that burrows deep into the subconscious.

The album's emotional centerpiece arrives with "All Your Secrets," a haunting meditation on intimacy and vulnerability that features some of the most poignant lyrics in the band's catalog. Hubley's occasional lead vocals, as heard on "Avalon or Someone Similar," provide textural contrast to Kaplan's weathered croon, adding another layer to the album's rich emotional palette.

What makes "Popular Songs" particularly compelling is how it manages to sound both timeless and distinctly contemporary. The band's magpie approach to musical influences—drawing from krautrock, indie pop, ambient music, and classic rock—never feels forced or academic. Instead, these elements blend naturally into something uniquely their own, a sound that could only come from decades of musical partnership.

The album's sequencing deserves particular praise, with each song flowing naturally into the next, creating an immersive listening experience that rewards attention. In an era increasingly dominated by playlist culture, "Popular Songs" makes a strong case for the album as artistic statement, demanding to be heard as a complete work rather than a collection of individual tracks.

Thirteen years on, "Popular Songs" has quietly established itself as a high-water mark in Yo La Tengo's extensive catalog. While it may lack the obvious hooks of earlier classics like "Painful" or "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out," its rewards reveal themselves slowly, like a photograph developing in a darkroom. The album's influence can be heard in countless indie acts who've learned that sometimes the most radical thing you can do is simply be beautiful.

For a band that has never courted mainstream success, "Popular Songs" ironically represents their most accessible work—not through compromise, but through the accumulated wisdom of three musicians who've learned exactly what they do best. It's the sound of artists at peace with themselves, creating music for the pure joy of creation.