The Instruments is the project of Heather McIntosh, cellist for Circulatory System, who's also performed with the likes of Great Lakes, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don't, Elf Power, and Japancakes; she's also one of the minds behind the recent experimental compilation AUX (as producer and contributor), and has exhibited her own electronic experimental works. But the first time I heard The Instruments--on their first album, A Billion Phonographs (2002)--the nature of the music really surprised me. The Instruments doesn't sound like any other Elephant 6 band. Heather has a soft, low voice much like Suzanne Vega's, and the music has the same delicate quality--piano, a carefully, exactly plucked guitar, and the moaning of the cello. But she's not without her risky side. "When the Stars Shine," in which Jeff Mangum is distinctively heard harmonizing the title with Heather, could almost be a moment from Major Organ and the Adding Machine, except that it's nowhere near as frantic; The Instruments are dreamy, to be sure, but they're grounded in traditional music forms.

As much as I enjoyed Billions of Photographs--whose lyrics can be summed up by the track titles: "Lullaby," "Sea Chantey," "Carnival," "For a Silent Movie," etc.--I'll admit I like the latest, Cast a Half Shadow, twice as much. You get the feeling she's figured out what she wants to do with the band, and the whole album is much more consistent and unified. She's joined by another spectacular supporting cast. All of Heather's teammates from Circulatory System are here: Peter Erchick, Derek Almstead, Will Hart, Eric Harris, John Fernandes, and Hannah Jones; plus Jeff Mangum and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel.

The mood of the album is set with the first two tracks: after the opener, appropriately enough "Show to Begin," the band settles back for a ravishing instrumental piece, "For Travelers." This is an album where the lyrics take a backseat to the melodies, and the voices are just another instrument (as in "Through the Air," which sends the same words echoing again and again while the cello guides them along). "Seems So Far," the loveliest of the songs proper, is simple as hell, but a tribute to how Heather has matured as a songwriter; it's a natural for any other band to cover. But the Instruments aren't really about songs. The band is an hypnotic victrola; listen, for evidence, to "Response," the album's ambient experimental piece, which turns back on the previous track and digs below it like some Will Cullen Hart experiment involving submerged microphones. If listened to with headphones, the album will take you on a strange nocturnal trip. When, in the album's closer, "My Friend," Heather begs you to take her hand and stay, you'll be unable to resist.

Cast a Half Shadow is released Tuesday. You can buy it now from Orange Twin Records, or preview songs at the band's MySpace page.

Cast a Half Shadow,
by The Instruments

1. Show to Begin
2. For Travelers
3. Seems So Far
4. Our Lovely Ladder
5. Branches for Many Birds
6. Through the Air
7. Amongst the Trees
8. Response
9. Lantern
10. My Friend
Total Running Time: 45:10