So the press release for this talks about how this is the release where Keith Kenniff "finds his voice" or some such nonsense. Frankly, I'd really rather it remained lost if this is the sort of thing we're looking forward to from now on. Let's be perfectly frank: If there was one thing missing from albums under the Helios moniker, it most certainly wasn't some thin, reedy and ultimately featherweight vocals slathered with reverb and spouting truly forgettable lyrics. In fact, given how typically strong the music on Ayres is(much more so than even the previous album), it's that much more distressing when it's overlaid with the banality of Kenniff's utterly wimpy indie-rock vocal stylings.

While I don't think it's bad to experiment with new ideas or styles it's also a good idea to recognize your limitations, and giving in to the temptation to nail down every idea into concrete lyrical form rather than let the music speak for itself smacks of desperation and really seems like a missed opportunity. Especially given the strengths of the previous Helios releases, this just comes off as trying to do too much with far too little.