AMG Review of Denali

Charles Spano
All Music Guide

Denali is part trip-hop, part Fugazi, combining the sultry vocals of Maura Davis with dark electronics and the glacial guitar sound of her older brother, Keeley Davis' band Engine Down. On their stunning debut, the Richmond, VA, foursome can sound as crisp and ethereal as Portishead ("You File"), as otherworldly as Tom Waits ("Loose Me"), and as atmospheric as Radiohead ("Relief"). On "Everybody Knows" Denali lays down towering spy music -- a sound that characterizes them best -- remote, spectral, and always a little mysterious.