What I've Been Listening To - September 2017

What a month this has been for new music. What. A. Month. An incredible month for hardcore with some of the scenes heavyweights finally unveiling new material, as well as some huge sounding albums from a variety of other genres. Some of those albums have stuck with me throughout the month, snagging my attention right from the first listening and keeping me addicted. Other albums I've listened to are ones I've been rediscovering; revisiting their musical pools and going for a swim. The following albums are where I've done the majority of my metaphorical swimming.

The Contortionist - Clairvoyant

Wow. Just wow. I've been a huge fan of The Contortionist for a few years now, but this album is something else. Their most melodic album to date, but I honestly think it's their best. The way it flows from beginning to end is so smooth, transitioning from soft calm passages to dramatic flamboyant cadences, it's a real musical journey that I want to keep going on. If you aren't familiar with The Contortionist and you like modern prog, do not sleep on this album. A very strong contender for album of the year.

Seaway - Vacation

One of pop punks most underrated acts have released one of the genres best albums of 2017. The album is full of infectiously catchy vocals and bouncy posi vibe riffs that it's literally impossible not to like. If you could pack a sunny holiday into an album, this is exactly what it would sound like. Best listened to with a hatred for your home town and more pizza than your appetite can handle. Maybe listen to it with friends that you don't mind sharing pizza with.

PVRIS - All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell

This one has been a bit of a grower for me, but after a few listens I'm in love with it. I was hooked on PVRIS after the release of White Noise a few years ago, and was so excited about the new record, but on the first listen it just didn't hit me in the same way. I left it alone for a little while and revisited it, and on doing so it all just fell into place. Lynn's vocals are powerful as ever, and the vibe of the music is just as brooding and intricate as before, just with a slightly more commercial feel. I don't think they've topped White Noise, but this album is still worth your time.

Northlane - Singularity

Their best album with Adrian, without a shadow of a doubt. Northlane have become a powerhouse over the last few years with the addition of Marcus, adding an incredible vocal range to their sound and adapting their music ever so slightly to compliment his voice. Singularity, however, is an unrelenting beast of an album, and quite possibly the bands best. The guitar riffs are heavy and intricate, their use of dynamics is clever and tasteful, and the vocals are just so raw and full of venom. It's impossible to listen to this and not want to trash everything that's around you.

Funeral For A Friend - Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation

I have so much love for this album. I grew up listening to this, and pretty much the entire reason I had a massive emo fringe was because Darran Smith did. The vocals are all so catchy and emotionally driven, remaining memorable all these years. The guitar work is sensational, and there wasn't really an emo band around at the time that were writing riffs like that. They were essentially a metal band that were upset about a lot of things. This is one of my favourite albums of all time, and I'll never get bored of this record.

September has been great for music, for all genres. I hope that October proves to be just as fruitful. If anyone reading this has anything they'd like me to review, be it a band I need to check out or perhaps it's your own band, let me know!

D.S

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Being As An Ocean - Waiting For Morning To Come

It's been a couple of years since we last heard from post-hardcore heavyweights Being As An Ocean. And for good reason. Since the release of their self titled album in 2015, a number of hurdles presented themselves. Their drummer left the band in the back end of 2015. They signed to Equal Vision Records, and announced the arrival of Jesse Shelley (Sleepwave live drummer) to the band. They set an album release date for June 2017, which wasn't met, and no explanation was given as to why. In response to this they acquired the rights to their album, bought out of their record contract with Equal Vision, and became an independent band. And then, on Friday the 8th of September, Waiting For Morning To Come was released. I don't know about you, but I hadn't been waiting for morning. I'd been waiting for this album. I'd also been waiting to win the lottery and for someone to invent teleportation so I can go to all the amazing tours America gets, but I guess it makes sense to deal with things that already exist. Being As An Oceans new album now exists. So I've checked it out.

The first half of the album runs in a sort of pattern, an interlude, followed by a track, followed by an interlude and so on. The interludes almost act as a breather of sorts, a palette cleanser in between tracks, setting the tone for what's about to follow. Opener "pink & red" flowing into "Black & Blue" is a perfect example of this, the delicate emotive piano of the former gently guiding you into the soft and soothing tones of the latter, opening with the question "Have you ever heard that love is a metaphor?". The track continues to subtly rise and fall, allowing instruments to creep in from the background to add to the atmosphere, before dropping out and stripping down to allow the vocals and lyrics to really stand out. The next two tracks follow the same pattern, with "Glow" showcasing the first distorted guitar of the album. The verses, completely soaked in reverb and stripped to the bare minimum, dynamically rising and falling before exploding into what I think is one of the biggest choruses on the album. Both Joel (vocals) and Michael (guitar/vocals) deliver their vocals with such rawness and passion, really making you listen to what they're saying and helping the honesty of the lyrics really hit home. The interlude into a song pattern is really good at pacing the flow of the album. It took me a couple of listens to properly appreciate it, but it gives the album an almost movie-like feel, the interludes acting as transitions between all the different "scenes".

"Dissolve" and "OK" stand out as what I imagine will be crowd favourites. "Dissolve" has been getting airplay for a while, initially being released last year, and "OK" has been popping up on YouTube as they've incorporated it into their live set. Both songs sport memorable choruses with really powerful lyrics. Michael has such an incredible voice, arguably one of the best in post hardcore today, and he really utilises his range here, most notably on the line "And I wear my heart on my sleeve so you can watch it bleed". The chorus really breathes and pulses, much like a heart, which may or may not have been intentional, but when the guitars swell and flourish it completely lifts the chorus and creates one of those goosebump moments. They've also done something very brave on this album with the track "eB tahT srewoP ehT", which, as you may guess from the name, is entirely in reverse. The track played forwards is a little confusing lyrically as, well, everything is backwards, but the music still works and the track plays out as an experimental interlude. However, I stumbled across a reversed version of the track on YouTube, and when played backwards the song amazingly also works in reverse. Or the right way round, depending on your view. It's kind of confusing. It makes a very interesting addition to the album, and it's the first time I've seen a band intentionally release a song in reverse. The whole album is great, but the stand out track for me is album closer and title track "Waiting For Morning To Come", which from the off is musically the closest to the sound they incorporated on previous albums. It's almost an Easter Egg of an album closer. Go on the journey, drift through the calm, and end the journey with a familiar friend. The lyrics are brutally honest and full of so much feeling, effortlessly wandering in and out of dynamic changes like it's childs play. A very gentle end to a very gentle, moving album. The track ends with a crooner style saxophone, ending things with a touch of class. But that's really what the entire album was. A touch of class. Not over indulgent, not so relaxed that it becomes a chill out album, but (without sounding too much like Goldilocks) it was just right. They've done it again.

There's a quote on this album that says "I want you to listen very, very carefully". And I agree. You really should. On a whole, this entire album is soothing. It's relaxing, atmospheric, beautiful, serene, mellow. Musically, it's calm. However, it also shows glimpses of pain, depression, grief and anguish, especially in the vocals. This, paired with tasteful sonic bursts in the music, thrusts the emotive content skyward and really takes you on an emotional ride. This might not be the post hardcore album that you were expecting, but it is definitely worth your time. A true musical experience, with elements of bands like PVRIS, Emarosa and Michaels previous band The Elijah running throughout. 

As mentioned previously, the album came out on September 8th, and is available literally everywhere that you can think of. If you want to sit back, relax, and really get lost in something, this is the perfect album to accompany you. 

D.S

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