The second in a trilogy of records about morning, afternoon and night, respectively, Afternoon Tales' songs take their time to run their course, whiling away the minutes as the shadows lengthen around them. Despite the lazy, sunny associations with afternoons, there's a definite chill here. The immediate (and perhaps too easy) sonic comparison at times is to a more acoustic Radiohead, though The Birdwatcher is far less grandiose. The songs begin with slow organ drones and acoustic guitar strumming and allow the simple chord progressions to build and insinuate themselves into your head, then breaking out into lush strings or chilly dissonant guitar figures. Over it all, Dan Matz's detached, fragile voice floats along, never quite wanting to intrude on the music. His lyrics can seem awkward and slightly out-of-place over their delicate foundations (like "Astoria 5PM"'s "If this secret I should tell / You would run like hell"), but it seems more stylized than purely straightforward. The effect is hushed, but never sleepy -- more like the Birdwatcher is waiting for something, whether good or bad, and doesn't want to disturb it when it arrives.