Blonde Redhead and Pantha Du Prince

For the most part, each Blonde Redhead album has been dreamier and less turbulent than the lastthe New York group has reinvented itself several times over since its noisy 1995 debutyet the group’s latest album, Penny Sparkle, is a surprise nonetheless, downplaying the guitars in favor of electronic arrangements that touch on shoegaze and trip-hop equally. It’s a deeply pretty album, though it lacks the dramatic spark that made albums like 2000’s Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons so gripping.