PREMIERE: PWRHAUS - PWRHAUS

Laura Kerry

PWRHAUS has always been a little mysterious. Behind the band lies another alias, Tonality Star, who first released his music a few years ago quietly and without attribution. We now know Tonality Star and his 2011 album, To My Long Lost Love, to be the work of Portland-based Anthony Schatz and collaborators, whose dreamy pop earned the attention of Robin Pecknold and, largely as a result of that, a mass of loyal followers.

Though his second release, the self-titled PWRHAUS, arrives with less mystery, it maintains a sense of uncanniness. True to Tonality Star’s previous work, the new six-song album is a mashup of disparate elements: soul, synth-pop, indie rock, and a touch of secret sauce that ties it all together.

In songs such as “Got You On My Mind” and “Set On You,” the artist creates choruses whose tender falsettos sound straight out of Motown, but steeps them in the dense fuzz of dream pop. “You’re The Only One” and “Heartbeat” mix ‘70s funky soul with dreamy effects. “I’ll Never Let You Go” approaches ‘80s soft rock, but infuses it with enough weirdness to save it from getting too cheesy. And “Always,” with its Beach Boys melodies, ghostly vocal sample, and spacey synths, is harder to classify. But through all of these moods and tone changes—from ‘60s to ‘80s, romantic to freakish, and beyond—PWRHAUS maintains a sound that is distinctly and magically his.