Lightlooms, a Denver-based glitchy-yet-pretty experimental pop trio, caught us completely by surprise. The act quietly released a six-song EP last year (available for free from the group’s Bandcamp site), but the two songs we’ve heard from its forthcoming full-length really made us sit up and take notice.

Built around classically trained Meaghan Lillis’s powerful-yet-plaintive vocals and balletic piano playing, “Signs” grabs you by the ears and demands a close listen. Josh Guisinger’s guitar echoes and scaffolds the vocal line, while omnipresent drummer Chris Durant (also of Amazing Twin, Le Divorce and Sun Red) provides a deft rhythmic accompaniment that is every bit as graceful as Lillis’s piano lines.

With Lillis’s classical training, Guisinger’s background in punk and noise music, and Durant’s chameleon-like technical proficiency, Lightlooms distinguishes itself from the well-worn, average (and below average) girl-with-a-piano experimental pop (how many Regina Spektors do we need, anyway?) Steal “Signs” and hear for yourself. Zack Martinson of Denver band Saints contributed bass on this track and noted violinist Jody Livo added understated strings. Tasty. If you like what you hear as much as we do, make sure to catch Lightlooms on Saturday, May 7 at the Larimer Lounge, or on Thursday, May 19 at the Skylark Lounge.

If you like Steal This Track, you’re gonna love Steal This Track: a Reverb Dance Party at the Hi-Dive. We’re taking over the South Broadway indie rock institution on the last Thursday of every month with special guests, giveaways, drink specials and more. In the later hours, DJ Savior Breath (a.k.a. Reverb’s own Eryc Eyl) turns the shindig into a pants-dropping dance party. And just like Steal This Track, it’s absolutely free. You won’t want to miss it.

Please note that downloads offered via Steal This Track are intended to whet your appetite, and are NOT CD-quality recordings. If you want those, please support the artists by buying their music and/or seeing them live.

If you’re a band or musician ready to expose your fresh sounds to the readers of Reverb, email your tracks — along with any interesting facts about them, as well as a photo or album art — to Eryc Eyl for consideration.

Eryc Eyl is a veteran music journalist, critic and Colorado native who has been neck-deep in local music for many years. Check out Steal This Track for local music you can HEAR, and the Mile High Makeout for stories about Denver musicians doing extraordinary things. Against his mother’s advice, Eryc has also been known to tweet. You can also follow Steal This Track on Twitter. Sorry, Mom.