Kevin Bronson on May 16th, 2012

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L.A. audiences are accustomed to catching only glimpses of Xander Smith – when the strobe lights hit him right, or when his black-dressed figure emerges from the fog when he’s fronting his long-running shoegaze band Run Run Run. So it’s a minor shock to the senses to see him clearly, and clearly dialed back, on “Hey San Pedro,” Smith’s solo debut. The album, out this week, finds Smith channeling the pop and folk troubadours of the 1970s rather than the effects-laden rock of the ’90s. Gently orchestrated, sweetly melodic and paced like a walk in the park, “Hey San Pedro” is for the quieter, lucid moments that inevitably arrive, usually the morning after.

||| Download: “Down”

||| Live: Xander Smith celebrates his album release with an acoustic show tonight at Stories bookstore in Echo Park.