When they're on, though, they're really on. "Shadow Falls" is three minutes of brilliant chorus and sparse guitars, gilded with schmaltzy yet believable puppy-love (e.g., "Please don't change, dear"). "Coming Through Imposture" showcases Vermont's gorgeous soprano, and Bejar adds hooks in all the right places—a little tambourine shake here, a little wah-wah there—slowly building to a triumphant outro. In fact, it's Bejar's musical savoir faire (and nasal bleat) that separates this album from other canary-voiced rote-folk, such as that generated by interminable also-ran Mia Doi Todd. The most boring songs contain enough click-clacks, flute flourishes, hand claps, and understated guitar noise to hold ADHD attention spans. And since blue roses, according to Victorian floriography, represent attaining the impossible, this duo's struggle to impress each other could be the beginning of something great. This, alas, isn't it.