ALBUM REVIEW: -aire – The End Of The Ocean

It’s been a long wait for THE END OF THE OCEAN fans, as more than seven years have gone by without even a hint of a new release. After the phenomenal debut Pacific.Atlantic and the promising In Excelsis EP, THE END OF THE OCEAN have taken some time to evaluate and collect themselves. Personal wounds, healed in part by the creation of this album, -aire, which takes on the burden of great expectation from critics and fans alike. Can THE END OF THE OCEAN sustain the high standards of their previous records?

-aire opens with the quiet and hopeful Endure. Delicate piano and warm reverberation beckon in the tapping drums. It’s a beautifully understated start to what becomes a weighty, guitar driven piece. The rising notes give a real kinetic feel to the emotions we’re in store to experience on this record. A modest radio-friendly three-and-a-half minute run-time captures just enough to peak your interest, and leave you eager for more. Conversely, Bravado is much more to the point, a bright, bouncing beginning opens up the feelings of hurt and sorrow into a more contemplative, but solid and strong place. The guitar takes the place of any vocalisation here, the high and simple riff clear and responsive over the bouncing melody running underneath it.

In much the same way, Jubilant is incredibly upbeat, and captures a youthful vibrancy. Those looking for their post-rock torch bearers, they have returned. Jubilant has something more experimental playing around in it’s big chord movements and exhilarating drum thrashing, as the slow and contemplative. In some metaphysical way, the song feels like the embodiment of running; the calm of your mind and the franticness of your physicality all marring up into one motion of bittersweet release.

So far, -aire feels like the breaking of spring time after a long winter. We come to the track Self with a much more plaintive feeling. A lamenting guitar glides over faint echoed notes, a moment of quiet, a solitary pause, before the comfort of familiar friends, a lazy drum beat and an accompanying guitar round the sound out. There’s a sense of the coming together of THE END OF THE OCEAN to heal themselves, both as individuals and as a group.

To carry on the theme of lonely, ambient sounds, Homesick takes on a parallel to the previous track. Filled with little intricacies and rippling melodies, all interlinked but also quite unique to themselves. It’s a desperate sound of low, gentle emotions all reaching out. The building of this strange tension breaks into a trudging, deliberate movement. The music itself keeps consistent with THE END OF OCEAN’s ethereal sound, but a heaviness lies on your heart when listening. We’ve all missed something, be it a place, a person, a time. Whatever it means to be home, this is a beautiful encapsulation of what life away from the familiar feels like.

Forsaken continues the quiet melodies, but changes things up to conclude in a real punch. There’s never so much as aggression in THE END OF THE OCEAN, but there is for certain a strain and a darkness that channels through, in a much-needed push out of the sadness and into the much more volatile world of resentment.

Redemption embodies the notion loss and regret, with an overflowing acceptance in the cold light of day. THE END OF THE OCEAN has always been emotional players, but as a band they manage to weave a narrative into their music. This is a band that’s experienced their griefs, and has come out the other side. The beauty of not conveying this in any vocalisation truly means that THE END OF THE OCEAN has the room to explore what each musical element is contributing sonically and emotionally like no other band.

The narrative of the fall, of highs and lows moves into the dreamlike Ascend. Warm and heavenly, it’s sentiments of sound are true to the rest of the album, and a nice demonstration of the positive, slow vibes THE END OF THE OCEAN can give. Kicking back into the keys, Desire brings in a bit more diversity to the sweeping overlay of guitars in the last couple of tracks. There’s more groove, passion and a fresh perspective on the dark, lusting feelings that we haven’t encountered on this record before this. It’s a good placement for this track, to shake things up just before the end. And end it must, as we come to Birthright. Another opening the makes you feel like you’ve completed some great feat, that you’ve been on a journey with THE END OF THE OCEAN, and are now at the final moment of well-earned comfort and resolve.

It’s been a long time coming, and for those in need of a sound that resonates with an ache, a loss, a passion, THE END OF THE OCEAN have proved that their absence has seen them grow in strength as a group of people, and as a band. -aire is a soundtrack to an emotional reflection, and a catharsis to those who’ve been through something very personal. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone this album doesn’t resonate with on some level.

Rating: 8/10

-aire is due for release January 18th via Equal Vision Records/Rude Records. 

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