Down time: Music

Shawn Parker | Columnist for NOISE -- shawnmparker@gmail.com

Blue Nile

Hats

(Caroline Records)

The soundtrack to my recent trip to Colorado, 1989's "Hats" is the masterpiece in a phenomenal, tragically short recording career. As the sophomore album by Scottish suave-pop lads Blue Nile, "Hats" developed the sound of their debut, "A Walk Across the Rooftops," crafting warmer instrumentation and highlighting Paul Buchanan's plaintive, David Byrne-esque vocals even more.

A remarkably smooth, lush album, "Hats" is that rare record that somehow makes sense while driving 80 on I-70 with the sun beating down, but truly reveals itself after midnight when the lights are low and the edges blurred. Admirers of soulful, intoxicatingly mellow pop, particularly the sound of "Avalon"-era Roxy Music, are going to find themselves swept up in this gorgeous, evocative album.