Not to be confused with Australia's The Phosphenes, Phosphenes is a German outfit with one foot in electronic sounds and the other resting very comfortably in the indie rock world. Composed of Julee Bee (vocals, lyrics) and Harry Starbuck (composer, producer), Find Us Where We're Hiding also brings Florian Walther in on guitars for the lush effort.

The debut album starts with “Boy In The Hood,” which is a breathy, atmospheric tune with shimmering pop textures and a hazy, melodic undertone that weaves in and out of mysterious grace. “Girls Trip” follows with crashing percussion that leads into a buzzing, driving rocker. “People You Love Become Ghosts” takes a drastic turn into instrumental piano balladry with heavy attention to mood with plenty of ambient background noises, and “Heaven Looks Alright” continues that foundation with a cautious, emotive tune that's washed out in cinematic sounds.

The second half of the album continues the thoughtful trend with the soft, R&B influenced “Breathe,” the spacey and experimental “Galaxy Jump,” and the gentle piano of “Orange Vox” that builds into playful electro-pop. The listen fades out on the nearly six minutes of “Angel,” where all the strengths of Phosphenes collide for a dreamy, blurry album highlight. “One Trick Pony” exits the affair with one of the most vocally expressive tunes, where exploratory ideas are aligned with their curious pop tendencies.

Fitting comfortably somewhere in the midst of indie pop, dream pop, and ambient sounds, though Find Us Where We're Hiding is the first album from the pair, it never sounds like it, as they possess the sort of timeless beauty that many outfits take decades to cultivate, if they're lucky. If you took the best elements of Pink Floyd, The Cranberries, Arcade Fire, and Alvvays, you might come up with something akin to Phosphenes, so you'll understand how exceptional this record is.

Rating: A-

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