Reward Your Grace by The Feeling of Love is the album you listen to on a walk after a rainy-day nap to bring you back to Earth. Maybe it’s this strange midwinter heat wave that’s getting to me, but “I Could Be Better Than You But I Don’t Wanna Change” seems like a sonic rainbow right after a summer storm.

The Feeling of Love has drawn comparisons to classic artists like the Velvet Underground and Spacemen 3, and while there is definitely a resemblance there, even more in tune with the band’s sound are contemporary pop artists like MGMT and Foxygen. Not unlike MGMT’s Oracular Spectacular or Foxygen’s We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, Reward Your Grace whips up elements of ’60s and ’70s pop and psych– the spacey vocals, the heavily layered yet still atmospheric production, the occasional surf lick, and the organs (oh man, definitely the organs)–and bakes them into a nice ole’ 21st-century throwback souffle. What sets this album apart is that intangible European touch– The Feeling of Love hails from France, so this is clearly a damn fluffy and tasty souffle. And unlike many of the bands who are trying to do the retro psych/kraut thing today, frontman Guillaume Marietta’s (ever so slightly accented) vocals remain minimally processed, and in turn recall those of the Nederbeat (Q65, perhaps?) and krautrock greats.

Having started as a one-man garage-blues act and recently evolved into a bona fide band of three, this French group still sounds raw, fresh, and firmly rooted in the DIY/garage aesthetic. As a listener, I typically prefer an artist’s earlier, more stripped-down recordings, but having gotten acquainted with The Feeling of Love’s discography, I can honestly say that Reward Your Grace is my favorite album they’ve recorded so far.

Check out the album on Bandcamp (stream it below)– physical editions are available from the Bornbad label.