Last fall we received a demo from our friends in Danish experimental pop group, Efterklang. It was presented humbly as an album that a touring member of their band had been working on for the past few years. The three songs they sent were the beginnings of Rumspringa, the 11-song orchestral pop marvel from American singer-songwriter Daniel James aka Canon Blue. Though technically residing in Nashville, TN, Daniel James has spent the majority of the past three years touring the world with Efterklang while simultaneously writing and recording Rumspringa in their Copenhagen studio. He then headed to Iceland to record orchestral arrangements with renowned string quartet Amiina (most famously recognized as Sigur Rós' string section). The result is a breathtakingly gorgeous mix of orchestral pop and neoclassical minimalism that blends the soulful intimacy of Jeff Buckley and the playful whimsy of Sufjan Stevens with the stately meditation of Steve Reich and Philip Glass. Canon Blue's auspicious beginnings are rooted in the 2007 debut album, Colonies, a bedroom electronic folk collaboration with Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor. Rumspringa ironically finds Daniel James coming into his own by employing nearly 20 musicians to translate his expansive vision. The reserved, introverted abstraction of Colonies has given way to the eclectic glee of Rumspringa, and in the process has magnified the emotional heft and overall replay value significantly.