Massachusetts native Luke Temple’s brilliant Mill Pond release, Snowbeast, is a rich, undeniably warm folk-rock record. Temple didn’t depart much from the style of his last album, Hold a Match to a Gasoline World…and he shouldn’t have. Temple continues to lend special attention to vocals and banjo over other instrumentals, which truly sets his sound apart from those of his peers.

The album is simplistic in its melodies, but each track offers such powerful vocal delivery that the listener is immediately entranced. Temple is blessed with a haunting voice and incredible range—which garners comparisons from Jeff Buckley to Sufjan Stevens—and Snowbeast is an excellent forum to showcase his talent. The first half of the album is decidedly more uptempo: the dreamy “Saturday People” and “The Owl Song” will surely induce toe-tapping. However, the lingering melodies of the album’s slower tracks, such as the country-tinged “People Do,” truly encapsulate Temple’s simple and hypnotic style. Snowbeast is refreshing from beginning to end—and cements Luke Temple as a member of contemporary folk-rock royalty.