You can never put too fine a point on how environment affects how music is made and enjoyed. Pumping hot salsa seems absurd in the icy plains of Alaska, while Leonard Cohen seems wildly inappropriate for a day at the beach. With that in mind it seems fitting these January days to seek out records in tune with the polar vortex. Luckily, whether by design or chance, Dallas’ Crushed Stars have answered the call with its sixth record, Farewell Young Lovers (Simulacra Records).

The Crushed Stars seem to be a bit of an anomaly as a Texas-based, shoegaze-leaning band, but as the saying goes, “It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at.” And where the two-piece Crushed Stars—singer and multi-instrumentalist Todd Gautreau and drummer Jeff Ryan—are at seems to be permanent twilight and 32 degrees. There is more than  a little British feel to the band so perhaps they’re students of the classic 4AD period. The album certainly doesn’t read Dallas, but the influences don’t seem labored either. It’s like Crushed Stars exist in their own bubble.

Historically speaking, Crushed Stars have tended to be a mellow hang, but Farewell Young Lovers adds some wrinkles to the status quo. Opener “Flowerbomb” and mid-album track “Haters” puts some whiskey into the earl grey to channel mid-90s Jesus & Mary Chain by way of Sebadoh. The two songs are the odd men out, but the way the record is sequenced allows them to make sense. There’s a logical rise and fall that keeps the transition from rocking to sedate to near ambient and back again not be jarring. There is also some very smart mixing of traditional instrumentation and electronic elements. Musically speaking, it’s very well tailored.

Lyrically, Farewell Young Lovers lives up to the implied promise of the title, with small snapshots of relationships in various states of disarray and a balance of hopefulness and hopelessness consistently maintained. It’s like a break-up record for someone who doesn’t want to break up. It’s a neat trick in that the characters seem more resigned than sad, looking back with a bit more perspective. It’s that little tweak that keeps the record from being an emo, navel-gazing bummer. Crushed Stars have pulled together various elements in a very elegant, thoughtful, and satisfying way.