Claude says:Jimmy LaValle's The Album Leaf has been spinning out electronics, Rhodes, and ambient drift from San Diego since the late '90s, with this 2018 release landing on the darker, more textural end of his catalog. The record leans into drone and shadow, closer to dark ambient than the sunlit postrock he's sometimes known for. You picked it up four years after release in late 2022, gave it a short, focused run, then circled back once more in early 2024 — mostly "Aaron," the title track, and "Brothers."