Tim Yee’s newest album Purpose explores the intersection of lush soundscapes and earworm melodies. The music isn’t aggressively distinct from its peers in the recent dream-pop/shoegaze revival, but it’s a near ideal example of what these impulses can accomplish. Transporting yet comforting, memorable yet emotional, technical yet easy to digest.

The hallmarks are all there: washy delay on the guitars, reverb drenched vocals with near-constant harmonies, and pummeling drums that keep the rhythm coursing forward. The bass stands apart, sounding at times out of place with its dry, chorus-free plonk forward in the mix, but the playing is nimble enough to warrant the attention. Each instrument holds down its post and nicely compliments the others without too much overlap. The guitars focus on melodic leads rather than rhythms, for example, creating ample space for the floating vocals to expand and swirl.

These are melody-rich tunes, with every instrument intertwining its singular line. The vocals in particular show Tim Yee’s knack for earworm hooks. While the overall sound borrows from dream pop staples (the Cure, Cocteau Twins et al), many of these hooks seem indebted to that era’s moodier pop classics: Corey Hart would be a stretch, but I hear a tad of Cutting Crew’s “I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight.” Minus the sheen of ‘80s production, these melodic tendencies give shape to a genre that often sacrifices structure for vibe.

There’s an organic feel to the recording, with amps humming and minor ambient noises allowed in the mix. This lends the album with an intimacy the music itself might not achieve. In its latter half, the instrumentation begins to favor acoustic guitars. Starting with “Your Presence” and continuing for the next several tracks, the whispered vocals echo Elliott Smith, indie rock’s patron saint of intimacy. But the first half of the album does the heavy lifting in establishing the tone and style of the record, leading off with the upbeat “Deep End” and finding its apex with “Black Fog.” A sliding guitar and soft pads give the tune a space-age spaghetti western feel. The sturdy propulsion of these early tunes, as well as album closer “Salton Sea,” showcase Tim Yee’s secret weapon of hush-yelled hooks. The vocals are delivered with dynamic precision, sharpening for catharsis on the choruses and withdrawing into whisper-sung harmonies on the verses. Under a high-fidelity treatment and a slightly different approach, some of these songs could make easy comps for Turnstile’s “Seein’ Stars.”

Regardless of genre or style, there’s clearly a massive amount of talent on display across Purpose. The songs are solidly constructed, deliciously delivered, and working well in the genre of the mode. Tim Yee isn’t recreating the wheel with Purpose, but they’re spinning the heck out of the thing.