San Fermin, Village Underground

The musical moniker of Brooklynite and Yale graduate Ellis Ludwig-Leone, San Fermin draws on an eclectic mix of avant-garde pop and classical composition to create a heady, decorative, intense blend of sounds. Leone composed the band's first album in the secluded Banff Centre in Canada directly after finishing his music degree, but he's already drawn quite a crowd to his new sound, which in some respects evokes the band The National.

Using quite a battery of forces, including string and brass quartets, two sopranos and a vibraphone, their new album tells a love story - of a sort - alternating forthright, breathy romantic ballads with some more reflective, instrumental pieces of experimental sound. Allen Tate's growly baritone - reminscent according to some critics of Barack Obama - and the buttery twin sopranos of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig dominate the vocal sound, and during their frequent ensemble pieces, they ooze a sultry, sensuous decadence.