The sweeping and moody intro of “3 a.m. all the time” kick starts local four-piece Arc In Round’s latest Diagonal Fields. An at first standstill backbeat bends into soaring riffs and textured rhythms shortly after the opening track’s start, lending warranted emphasis to frontman Jeff Zeigler’s heartfelt vocals, which play out patient and melancholy. Somehow avoiding melodrama, Zeigler’s lines embody pre-dawn feelings in a concise yet profound way accessible from start to end. Coupled with polished percussion and bending tides of guitar, a confident “I don’t know what to say” is broken down to a mid-song “what to say”, marking the start of a near minimalist outro leaving the listener contemplating the philosophic value of 3 a.m. Shortly after the buzzing end of Diagonal Fields’ first, the airy optimism of “Sprit” rises with clean-cut drumbeats, bright chords, and breathy but rooted vocals. Its chorus feels like an assuring echo that eases in towards the song’s beginning and stretches towards the forefront as “Spirit” progresses. Again, the band’s knack for crafting emotive pop shines, making the core of “Spirit” vibrant with deliberate instrumentation that confronts its audience with pronounced and reflective feelings of probable transcendence and pure melody. “Follow”, well, follows, and hums with a similar resonance reminiscent of Yeasayer’s overplayed yet endearing “Ambling Alp”. Less shrill with a chiller backbeat, the synth-y swirl of “Follow” pulses with clicking cymbal and lushly layered vocals, creating a fortified wall of sound that keeps each of the song’s components in cohesion with its counterparts, dissipating into a resounding outro seconds shy of the four-minute mark. “Light” pours out warm with rays of crisp dissonance. Undeniably, the earnestly executed chord progression of Diagonal Fields’ latter tracks serves as an audible testament to Arc In Round’s varied spectrum of emotionally charged perspective. Closing out with the instrumental and lovely “Slow Ceiling”, Diagonal Fields is a symphonic landscape that successfully holds its own. – Dianca Potts