Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros perform at BottleRock Napa Valley on May 11, 2013. Roman Gokhman/STAFF.

I was ready to write about how Los Angeles folk hippie collective Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros had mellowed too much on their new album. How it lacks songs that are both uptempo and upbeat, or a clear audience-pleaser like “Home.” Then I interviewed band member Nora Kirkpatrick (accordion, backup vocalist), who explained that the Zeros considered releasing a double-album; one mellow and one euphoric. Ultimately they decided to split the many songs recorded into two albums.  The second will be released later this year.

So consider Here the solemn first half. In this equation, the album (out May 29 on Community Music / Vagrant Records), this album succeeds beautifully, leaving the listener wanting more. Its nine tracks are a mix of ambient hum-alongs (“Mayla”), guitar picking (“Man on Fire,” “Dear Believer,” pretty much everything else) and horns. While the album continues to build, the crescendo doesn’t quite come. That must be what the follow-up is for.

Several of the songs approach the topic of spirituality. Vocalists Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos proclaim its importance in several songs (“Dear Believer,” “Child,” “That’s What’s Up,” while questioning why God made both good and bad in “I Don’t Wanna Pray.”

Grade: B+

Listen to: “Man on Fire,” “I Don’t Wanna Pray”

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.