The Album Leaf is the one-man solo project of Tristeza guitarist Jimmy LaValle. By taking elements of classical, jazz, and post-rock, LaValle constructs his pieces utilizing ambient noise, field recordings, and radio transmissions. A collaboration between Linkwork and Music Fellowship sparked the Album Leaf's first full-length, An Orchestrated Rise to Fall, in 1999. An EP (In an Off White Room) preceded the release of LaValle's second album, One Day I'll Be on Time, on Tiger Style in March 2001. The Album Leaf opened for Sigur Rós' first tour of the U.S. later that fall. By the time he began recording his third album, he'd secured the services of Sigur Rós' Iceland studios, along with several of its bandmembers.

The Album Leaf is the one-man solo project of Tristeza guitarist Jimmy LaValle. By taking elements of classical, jazz, and post-rock, LaValle constructs his pieces utilizing ambient noise, field recordings, and radio transmissions. A collaboration between Linkwork and Music Fellowship sparked the Album Leaf's first full-length, An Orchestrated Rise to Fall, in 1999. An EP (In an Off White Room) preceded the release of LaValle's second album, One Day I'll Be on Time, on Tiger Style in March 2001. The Album Leaf opened for Sigur Rós' first tour of the U.S. later that fall. By the time he began recording his third album, he'd secured the services of Sigur Rós' Iceland studios, along with several of its bandmembers. The results, In a Safe Place, appeared on Sub Pop in June 2004. The EP Seal Beach, originally issued in 2003 in Spain, appeared stateside in early 2005, and LaValle's next album, Into the Blue Again, followed in September 2006. ~ Mike DaRonco, All Music Guide