Sines is the fourth studio album by New Zealand post-rock band Jakob. It was released through The Mylene Sheath records on October 21, 2014.[1] The album was recorded at Roundhead Studios and Sister Lung Studios in Auckland and Napier, respectively, mixed by Jeff Boyle and mastered by Chris Chetland. Rhian Sheehan contributed the string arrangements. The album was produced by David Holmes.[2] Single "Blind Them with Science" premiered August 1, 2014.[3]
Upon release, the album was met with generally favorable reviews. Rod Whitfield of Beat Magazine gave the album a positive review and described the compositions on Sines as "strange and beautiful soundscapes [meant] to enthrall and entrap you" with "much ebb and flow…subtle in its delivery and effect." Whitfield called the use of "real" strings as "dark, melancholic [and beautiful]". He stated that the songs are "long, dense and…quite tough, [but] if you let them into your soul they are truly compelling."[5] Another positive review from Nick Dodds of Echoes and Dust said the album was "magnificent", "glorious" and "wonderful...Forty four odd minutes of sublime beauty".[6] In 2015 the album was awarded the Taite Music Prize.