This album is Bazan's latest, from last May. It's fantastic, and like much of his other work it's a strong mix of powerful fast songs and emotional slow ones. Personally, I prefer his faster, angrier stuff, but I can appreciate the others just fine. There are four standouts that come to mind immediately, mostly in the up-tempo range: "People", "Eating Paper", "Strange Negotiations", and "Wolves at the Door".
Wolves at the Door, more than the other two, is a fast and angry political tune. I first heard it on the Grapes of Rad (who also happen to have Bazan on each year for their Christmas show), and was immediately ready to buy the album. Like Arrows, though, my wallet demanded that I wait for a sale.
Eating Paper and People are a little more back and forth, getting faster and slower throughout. The title track, Strange Negotiations, is generally pretty low-medium compared to the others and, like many of Bazan's songs, threatens to bring a tear to your eye even if you aren't listening to the words.
If you were a fan of Pedro the Lion or Headphones, or if you just like Bazan, check this album out. It was live-streaming on his Facebook page for a while, but I think you'll have to look somewhere else to preview it now. If you want some of his stuff for free, though, check out Daytrotter, where he has two older sessions up.
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