Starflyer 59's dreamy, introverted pop seems to channel the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Nick Drake as much as the English shoegazer groups of the early '90s to which they're usually compared. Curiously recorded and mixed in mono, Leave Here a Stranger is an atmospheric collection of beautifully languid melodies and lyrics that repeatedly use music as a metaphor for life. Mood, not variety, is the name of the game here, and the album plays like one long song, but for the right moment, Leave Here a Stranger is perfect.