If you ignore One Direction breaking every
record around, Chris Brown winning awards, Carly Rae Jepsen, Tulisa, PSY, David
Guetta etcetc, its not been a bad year for music. There’s more bands breaking
through now than ever before, giving you a plethora of new music to listen to
on a weekly basis from Lana Del Rey to Alt-J via Grimes and Peace. Some push
music out thick and fast to create a Hype Machine fire that burns for a few
weeks and then sits on your iPod, occasionally noticed by onlookers who’ll ask
if you’ve heard the *insert artist here* remix before
scrolling past as if last weeks’ band no longer matter.
Luckily, not all music is born the same
premature way. Some acts grow through EPs and a notorious live show over time
and develop in such a way that when their debut album finally arrives, they
deserve to engulf the underground with the hunger that they’ve built. This week
sees Tall Ships finally release their debut record “Everything Touching”. Does
it justify their years of work?
In short, yes. Whilst there’s tracks on
this record that have been around for a while, possibly disappointing the more
dedicated Tall Ships listener, the likes of “Ode To Ancestors” has been
reworked in a way that takes it in a more delicate and borderline enchanting
direction. Whilst there are occasionally tracks that are difficult listening
(does “Oscar” really need to be five and a half minutes long?), you’re rewarded
for your patience almost instantaneously by the album centerpiece “Gallop”.
It’s brash, its powerful and it sweeps you along into the world of Tall Ships’
fixation with time even more. Not that the band are worried about time, it only
took them 2 years since their first EP to put the record together.
What you have with Everything Touching is a
record that, given the chance, grows and encapsulates both the stunning
intimacy of music and its overwhelming power. With Tall Ships you have the
ability to completely lose your shit and then regain it in the space of two
tracks and enjoy the whole thing right up to the incredible closers of “Books”
and “Murmurations”. Its 65Daysofstatic mixed with the most grandiose rock bands and a
bit of mathy intelligence.
“Time is precious, time will forget us”
sings lead vocalist Ric. Time spent with this record is indeed precious, but
definitely not forgettable.
9.0
Braden Fletcher
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