Lower Dens relies so heavily on atmosphere

Lower Dens relies so heavily on atmosphere 

Lower Dens relies so heavily on atmosphere that at times it’s hard to tell just what it is that holds the music together.
Guitars chime, drums and bass do polite anchor work, keyboard riffs float by and Jana Hunter’s voice nestles in the wake, occasionally rising for air to enunciate something like “I wanna be with you alone.”
At the new Amp by Strathmore in North Bethesda on Thursday night, the Baltimore quartet was more substantial in feeling and execution. In what was essentially a trial run for “Escape From Evil,” an album set to be released March 31, and a cross-country tour that begins later this month, Lower Dens generated enough kinetic energy that the songs felt welcoming and palpable.