“All My Friends Who Play Guitar (Dormir Version)” by Starflyer 59

Hot on the heels of Lust for Gold, arguably their best album in recent years, Starflyer 59 have returned with a follow-up album of… checks notes… instrumental lullabies. Dejame Dormir finds Jason Martin taking nine songs from his band’s extensive discography and rendering them as night-time soundscapes.

All of the distorted riffs and shoegaze textures have been exchanged for dreamy chimes, harps, and flutes, and it’s decidedly quite pleasant, if a bit on the slight side. At the risk of sounding dismissive, Dejame Dormir ultimately feels like a side-project meant for Starflyer 59 completists, a fun little thing that Martin and his friends dreamed up one evening over a couple of beers.

That said, I do enjoy the sleepy-time version of “All My Friends Who Play Guitar.” Originally appearing on 2001’s Leave Here a Stranger, it’s one of the band’s lushest and most cinematic songs. Here, however, it’s transformed into a snoozy arrangement of malleted percussion and shimmering synths, with some of Martin’s trademark riffs carrying the melody.

Like the rest of Dejame Dormir, it’s smooth and inoffensive — and makes me think that Martin’s been playing a lot of Two Dots lately. (On a sidenote, NPR’s Lars Gotrich — a longtime fan of the band and excellent music critic — discusses Dejame Dormir with Scott Detrow.)