The Errant Charm

The Errant Charm is the new album from San Francisco’s Vetiver, and the band’s fifth full-length overall. Recorded by bandleader Andy Cabic and Thom Monahan, The Errant Charm is a superb soundtrack for an afternoon idyll. And that’s fitting. As he worked on material for the new record Cabic spent hours wandering the streets around San Francisco’s Richmond District, listening to rough mixes, tinkering with lyrics and arrangements. You can hear his strides in the tempo: Not hurried, just excited to be heading somewhere. And The Errant Charm features some of Vetiver’s most unabashed pop songs to date, with songs like the hazy, layered and sunlight-dappled “Hard to Break,” and the driving, propulsive “Wonder Why.” The Errant Charm. Errant as in wayward, elusive. Wandering but not lost. Within that wandering, all manner of small treasures are uncovered and new ones surface with each listen.