Venice Is Sinking不是一支普通的乐队，而《Azar》同样也不是一张普通的专辑。由键盘手James Sewell所演绎出的一系列包含管弦乐的、自赏式的演奏曲风，如“Azar One”、“Azar Two”以及其他的一些歌曲，穿插于整张专辑当中。在这些歌曲当中，时而让人感到它们是一种简单的有机结合，时而让人觉得它们又是复杂的、富有戏剧色彩的，比如“Okay”一曲，它听起来似乎像是小红莓乐队的典型曲风。而真正让整张专辑表现出一种视觉化的美妙体验的是复杂的构曲以及不同器乐的声音。2个歌手Daniel Lawson与Karolyn Troupe用各自不同的嗓音特点做了完美的互补，这让人感觉到是一种错乱中的和谐。这张专辑从头至尾也没有一首快节奏的歌曲，事实证明他们本就没有想要做快歌的打算。就拿“Young Master Sunshine”这首6分钟长的歌曲来说，它力求表现出一种三月里的主题：平稳的曲调一直延续，有时看似节奏上将要转入快车道，但最后也只是比开头稍稍快了一点而已。这就使专辑看起来似乎有一些沉闷，但是它又时不时给我们带来惊喜。用一句话来概括便是：既具实验性又具典型性，既让人感到伤感又让人充满希望，不管你怎么听，它都是那么那么的让人着迷！The new album, AZAR, finds Venice is Sinking widening its palette and deepening its focus, tackling the idea of location's ability to influence our lives. Growing musically since the band's debut, the group, challenged by engineer Scott Solter (Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Pattern is Movement), shed the space rock designation, from the wide-eyed Iron Range to the David Lynch prom theme of Wetlands Dance Hall, from the heart wrenching Young Master Sunshine to the sardonic pop of Okay. AZAR is a dynamic work of beauty and ambition: the songs are meticulous, vertical creations, tackling tiny, specific moments and exploding them outwards.If AZAR sounds wistful, it's because the band members somewhat silently assumed it would be their last album, given their uncertain and diffuse futures. They entered Solter's North Carolina studio in May of 2007 determined to make the record they had always wanted to make, traveling the horrific I-85 corridor from Athens to Charlotte nearly every weekend for the next eight months in an arduous and taxing process during which one band member left amicably, one member got divorced, and gas prices soared to over three dollars a gallon.AZAR is a more democratic album, with the four remaining members all contributing songwriting, including keyboardist James Sewell's haunting AZAR theme, which reoccurs in permutations throughout the album. Solter's touch pushed the band to work outside its comfort zone and explore varied, mutated instrumentation and experimental touches that were hinted at on Sorry About The Flowers, but never fully realized. Most importantly, AZAR feels like one thing, conceptually and sonically united behind the idea that our surroundings color even the smallest events in our lives.Things did get better for the band. Jeremy Sellers stepped in on bass, the first album came out in China (!) via Tag Team Records, and the band got the unique opportunity to make a third album right after the AZAR sessions ended. This third LP, whose release and title have yet to be determined, was recorded over one week at Athens' historic Georgia Theatre live to tape with only two microphones in a manner not dissimilar to the Cowboy Junkies' seminal Trinity Sessions. The new material, overseen by David Barbe (Drive-By Truckers, Bettye Lavette), is poppier and twangier, a stark contrast to AZAR and indicative of Venice is Sinking's chimerical influences.As 2007 and 2008 were spent recording, 2009 will find the band touring and promoting AZAR as well as the Georgia Theatre sessions.