Chris Cohen modestly describes himself as a musician who just happens to write songs, effectively dismissing the idea that there is anything directly confessional in the lyrics.
The Californian singer and multi-instrumentalist has been involved in various leftfield projects including a stint as guitarist with Deerhoof and with Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. He also formed a band called The Curtains.
'As If Apart' is his second solo work, the follow-up to 2012's 'Overgrown Path'.
In true DIY spirit, Cohen plays everything and most of the songs are his, although the jazzy shuffle of the title track is one of two written by Chicago's Zach Phillips, the other being Memory.
While there are plainly abstract themes and organic textures to the tunes, it would be disingenuous to argue that the lyrics are peripheral.
There is, for example, nothing random about lines such as these from Torrey Pine, the opening track: "Images under indigo undulating sea / Nothing to do, the undertow gently carries me / Can't tell if there's any more world / Without you".
This song builds from a sleepy beginning to a dramatic conclusion like describing a once orderly world that is slowly unravelling. The references to separation and loss are themes that recur throughout the album.
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Though none of the songs openly state 'I miss you' or 'I feel alone', these are essentially the sentiments he seems to be expressing. How else could one interpret the admission that "I spent a day in the dark again, hoping you would come around" on Yesterday's On My Mind?
By skirting around the pain, the memories triggered by places and objects become both blurry and vivid at the same time like vaguely remembered dreams. Appropriately, Cohen's sleepy vocals are like those of someone who half awake yet perfectly lucid.
His thoughts are presented within the context of melodically sophisticated arrangements that are unpredictable yet still recognizable as pure 'pop' songs so can be engaged with and enjoyed on many different levels.
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