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Journal of Retreat has all the characteristics of a great pop album: immediate hooks and extended-release sleepers, driving anthems and layered musings. Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dup Crosson, the musician behind Saint Solitude, weaves a collection of twelve songs that is a watershed moment for this young artist. Alternating between indie rock, shoegaze and Britpop, drums drive without being clichéd, guitars are hypnotic and playful, urgent and spacey, the keyboards atmospheric, and guest contributions of trumpet and cello add a blast of Beatlesque color and musicality. At the helm of it all is Crosson's voice and brilliant harmonies, his compelling performances articulating the smart and spacious melodies. The sometimes low-fi aesthetic (Crosson recorded the album in a small rented home in the mountains of NC) makes for an intimate listen, haunting and blissful. Producer Andrew Schatzberg, brought in to mix, brings a dreamy and distressed aesthetic to the mix, à la Radiohead meets The Flaming Lips. Released by Alive and Well Records.