Half-Told Tales 2LP

Half-Told Tales, the ninth album from Arab Strap, rests its case on texture: brittle acoustic arrangements laced with post-rock shading, tracked with longtime producer Paul Savage for Rock Action Records. The duo, Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton, formed in Falkirk in 1995, split in 2006, and reconvened in 2016, and that history shows in the record's mix of caustic humor and real feeling. "Dollar Park" draws particular notice for its surreal, intimate imagery, carried by Moffat's flat, confessional delivery.