Hailing from rural Northwest Pennsylvania, Heron plies a particularly entrancing brand of instrumental rock that teems with life even in its most bittersweet moments. You Are Here Now is the title of their debut album, and while that declaration may seem to address the listener, it is also symbolic for the band members themselves; it is like a snapshot earmarking a significant stop during a long journey. Coming as so many modern post-rockers have from a youth spent in post-hardcore, brothers Ben and Nate Blick have spent the better part of a decade and a half playing music together, leading up to this exact point. Joined by bandmates Boyd Lewis and Eric Morelli, You Are Here Now is drawn from the archives of a year spent jamming once a week, recording every practice until they were able to crystallize all of their shared ideas into seven songs that best represent exactly who they are at this moment.

In order to best capture the feeling of immediacy and to showcase the band as a true collaborative, Heron recorded You Are Here Now live rather than tracking their parts separately. The raw recordings were then sent to Washington State, where they were mixed by the inimitable Matt Bayles (Caspian, Russian Circles, Minus the Bear, This Patch of Sky) and mastered by Ed Brooks (Death Cab For Cutie, Fleet Foxes). The nuanced touch of these seasoned veterans results in a beautifully polished album that manages not to sacrifice the sense of artistic togetherness that can sometimes be lost in the name of overproduction.

To build on the theme of nature invoked by their namesake, You Are Here Now is reminiscent of the first week of spring. It is built carefully on placid refrains, but eventually blossoms forth with instances of breathtaking beauty, stunning bursts of life that drive memories of the cold to the back of one’s mind. It could be classified as conventional contemporary post-rock, but it thrives on intangibles, a clear chemistry between band members that lends more power to their compositions. This is an album where every note, every drum flourish, the wide open spaces the band allows for in which to build their melodies, they all land just as they should – everything in its right place.

As Heron continues to expand and define who they are artistically, it is up to time to determine what will materialize beyond the horizon. But this is where they are now, and in joining them, listeners will discover what a beautiful place it is to behold.