Foreign Tongues is quite an apt name given how eloquent they are when it comes to waxing poetic on a collage of life's moments -- those fleeting, those tepid, those reflexive and most of all, the sentimental ones. Their music is angled from the depths of spacey, broody, atmospheric pining which does place them in a list of quite a few emo/shoegaze/indie acts out there on the market at present. But what makes Fragile, As Said Before stand head above water is that its earnest and most vulnerable nature speaks volumes more than the average Joe through a range of simple, minimalist acoustics to heartwarming shimmery gems. All in all, it works.

In terms of the latter, twinkly jams such as "Collect Yourself" and "Little Doors" stand out the most. There's a high degree of mainstream-pop to their sell but it's the way they flood the listener with weathered mood and endearing melodies that makes the dark indie-pop essence jump out at you a bit more. This vibe perfectly accentuates the lyrics, pained and relatable, while still allowing percussion driven tracks such as "Hurt You" to inject that bit of reality from the surrealism crafted by the aforementioned. Think of Balance and Composure's ballads and this song matches up, but on a much lighter scale. In terms of stripped down acoustics, there's something for fans of Rogue Wave's "Eyes" here on "Sundress." It's a lush ballad of defeat, reminding us that while we're on this plane, it's all temporary. Such is the slant of the record, which quite honestly could have trimmed some fat and been dropped as a much more impactful EP, but nonetheless it's very honest, willing and meaningful. Here's hoping they rough it and get more electric on the next go.