The second listen off Irish producer Mano Le Tough's debut album, Changing Days, "A Thing From Above" sounds exactly like what its title suggests. A murmuring keyboard drone and heavy vocoder descends into the track's opening bars like a campy alien landing, complete with the familiar "ping" of a fired proton. Halfway through, however, Mano peels back the underlying noise to reveal the unexpected sound of birds chirping. Like the warmth of his lilt on "Please", the tenderness of that moment sticks.

[from Changing Days; out now via Permanent Vacation]