Noble, Lee

***LEE NOBLE has stepped out from behind his lair walls to unveil Ruiner, the follow-up to 2011's show-stopping Horrorism. Noble is progressing with his vaporous sound, once again turning the idea of pop music elemental and stealing your heart. There's a warbling, home-spun quality to Ruiner, with it's atmosphere soaked in the warmest of fuzzy hiss, guitars woven into and around organs, and Noble's voice, a combination of moans and whispers. Ruiner doesn't just pick up where Horrorism left off, it moves beyond it, with its hooks and with its drive. Ruiner is an album that will dominate you. It's a record that demands full attention, start to finish. It's a full album in every sense of the word; each part compliments the other, but it is absolutely a collection of songs. Noble isn't just walking in fields of ambient air and drone dirges, he's bending and manipulating sounds and textures to craft his art. It straddles between a world of ethereal experimental music and fleshed out indie-rock. Weighing heavier on the former, it finds itself a Grouper-meets-Radiohead in a basement type affair. He has created a sound that feels familiar, comfortable, and lived-in—but it's entirely his own sound. You immediately know when you're listening to Lee Noble. With Ruiner, the sounds are worn well, they've been thought about, they've been executed with Noble's delicate touch, and they've been strung together beautifully. Ruiner is an ardent record, and it's a heavy listen, that'll have you introspective and reflecting. It's unquestionably both haunting and gorgeous, but what else would you expect from Lee Noble?