Photo by Tim Schaar

A song about a love both pure and fatal. There are arguably better tracks on Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, the full-length debut of Bradford Cox's Atlas Sound project, but "River Card" immediately struck me as a particularly vulnerable one from the Deerhunter frontman. A rich, echoing acoustic beat topped with a concise drum roll is joined by shakers, bass, treated harp, and organ-- some of which glisten like a river's surface, others sounding as if they could be bubbling up from the depths-- on an ambient-pop song that puts self-destructive emotion both on the surface and beneath it. Through it all, Cox crisply enunciates some of his most seemingly straightforward lyrics yet: "River so clear and blue/ I'm so in love with you/ But you drown me."

On his MySpace blog and in interviews, Cox says "River Card" was inspired by a Puerto Rican short story about a boy who falls in love with a boy he sees at the bottom of the river-- his own reflection-- and ends up sleeping with the fishes as a result. Still, a couple of lyrics suggest the song takes place in a less magical setting: "I won't answer my phone/ You call it all you want." Whether the song's heartache is drawn from literature or real life is ultimately irrelevant, but its production has an elegance bringing to mind the dreamier side of Brian Eno's pop albums (for one example, the drums recall those on Here Come the Warm Jets' "Dead Finks Don't Talk", though without the stereo-panning), and Cox's clear-blue lyrics leave a palpable ache that lingers upon return listens. After all, you never drown in the same river twice.