Young Galaxy matures with new album

“Sleep-inducing” is not a favorable adjective in music reviews. But it is the first word that comes to mind when one is lulled into the dream-like journey through a  vast sonic universe that Montreal-based trio Young Galaxy has meticulously crafted with Shapeshifting, its strongest LP to date.

Effusing an unbridled ambition that was lacking in its 2007 eponymous debut album and 2010’s Invisible Republic, the group’s dream-pop aesthetic has been confidently tweaked to achieve a quality that is both thrillingly inventive and consistently rewarding.

With the aid of producer Dan Lissvik, a member of the Swedish experimental pop band Studio, Young Galaxy has written a set of 11 songs that flows effortlessly and blends harmoniously to establish a unifying theme for the group’s third album.

In a move that instantly catapults him into a prestigious realm of independent music producers, Lissvik acts as the metaphorical sculptor of Young Galaxy’s new style. His ambitious vision and technical expertise provide the foundations for the band’s now- promising future.

“Nth,” the album’s epic overture, features a reversed-drum beat and spacey synths that rise out of the silence and quickly build to a bombastic level only to instantly retreat back into silence. Toying with the listener’s piqued expectations, the 30-second spot is followed by the trance-like “The Angels are Surely Weeping.” We’ve lost our e-e-e-e-ssence, singer/guitarist Stephen Ramsay wails over a sleek beat and delicate keys.

The vocals of Catherine McCandless are the true centerpiece of this album. Husky and ethereal, McCandless’ voice is as vital to Young Galaxy’s new sound as Annie Lennox’s breathy vocals were to The Eurythmics and Victoria Legrand’s are to the similarly sublime Beach House.

On “Blown Minded,” McCandless’ voice shines over a thumping bass and lone distorted trumpet as she sings, I believe there’s a meteor out there / with my name on it / hurtling through space / and nothing can stop it.

Other singers could easily be thwarted by lyrics that are so unabashedly indebted to David Bowie’s songwriting, but McCandless delivers them with an earnestness and passion that demand the listener’s full attention.

That is not to say that McCandless and the rest of Young Galaxy can’t also have a bit of fun. Its toe-tapping, synth-speckled tune, “B.S.E.,” is reminiscent of Passion Pit’s more energetic dance hits and Arcade Fire’s triumphant “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains).” McCandless embraces the ridiculous nature of the piece and boisterously repeats the song’s esoteric chorus, Black swan event.

But in a surprising tonal shift, halfway through the song the bubbly mood is abandoned for a much more somber approach. Accompanied by rising synths and a throbbing bassline, the song builds to a conclusion so achingly poignant that you easily forgive the band for its obscure lyrics as McCandless pleads, Watch as energy / Rolls out of us on golden horns of light.

Only when the group is at its least experimental and ambitious does it seem to slip up. “For Dear Life” and “High and Goodbye” play it safe with basic guitar and synth instrumentation, McCandless’ dependably strong vocals and steady beats.

Songs like “Shapeshifting,” with its start-stop lyrics, Indian instrumentation and psychedelic ambience, however, prove Young Galaxy has not only matured with this third album but also is deserving of a spot atop the list of the most exciting dance pop bands working today.

Like its predecessors, the real wonder of Young Galaxy is that it has discovered how to ground its wildly abstract musical ideas with eternal, human resonance.