Ages & Ages

I'm enjoying the new Ages & Ages album, which I think I read about in the WSJ of all places.

"Divisionary" is the follow-up to the band's 2011 debut, "Alright You Restless," which established what Mr. Oberdorfer described as the "mythology" of Ages and Ages on 10 songs that were ostensibly about moving into the woods and starting over, away from the destructive influence of modern society. (The band members all live in Portland, Ore.) After honing the album's songs onstage for months, the group recorded "Alright You Restless" in just eight days.

Making "Divisionary" was a longer process that began when guitarist Tim Perry attended a 10-day silent meditation retreat in 2012. Mr. Perry said he left with a head full of song ideas that he'd been singing to himself for days. He began recording on his phone in the car on the way home, drawing on the lives of the musicians, including marriage and the birth and death of loved ones. The rest of the group fleshed out the rough demos, rounding out the material with hand claps, interlocking instrumental parts and harmony vocals.