Sea Power – Everything Was Forever (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 47:00 minutes | 931 MB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Golden Chariot Records Ltd
British Sea Power was founded in Reading in 2000. After 20 years and seven albums, they changed their name to Sea Power in 2021, which they justified as follows: “Recently, a certain kind of nationalism has been on the rise in this world – an isolationist, antagonistic nationalism with which we don’t want to be confused. It has become apparent that the name British Sea Power can be misunderstood, especially if you don’t know the band or their recordings. We always wanted to be an internationalist band, but maybe having a specific nation-state in our name wasn’t the smartest way to demonstrate that.”
Their new album “Everything Was Forever” shows that nothing has changed in the six-piece band except the name: melodic guitar pop meets post-punk, electronica, krautrock and experimentalism. At most, a bit of nostalgia has been added, which already resonates in the album title.
Sea Power already revealed how the new work sounds at the end of 2021 with the first single release “Two Fingers”, which singer Yan Scott Wilkinson described as follows: “The song is partly inspired by our late father. He used to greet people on TV with two fingers – kind of an old-fashioned toast to toast people or events: I’ll toast with two fingers, to a message or to the memory of a childhood friend. In the song, it’s a toast to everyone, the people in our lives and those who are sadly gone, and to making the world a better place.”
Sea Power recorded ten songs in total for “Everything Was Forever”, including the second single “Lakeland Echo”. For the production, they worked with Graham Sutton for the first time in ten years. But, like so many other bands, the Corona pandemic presented Sea Power with some difficulties. Supported by their loyal fans, they were finally able to finance the record via crowdfunding.
Some bands feel a need to reinvent themselves every once in a while, and for Sea Power, all it took was to lop the “British” off the first part of their name. Though the reason behind the change was a desire to separate themselves from a rising tide of toxic nationalism in Great Britain, the result seems to have also put a spring in their step. While their more recent catalog includes releases where they scored a documentary film (2013’s From the Sea to the Land Beyond), penned music for a video game (2021’s Disco Elysium), and re-interpreted their songs with the help of a brass band (2015’s Sea of Brass), 2022’s Everything Was Forever is a powerfully effective summation of what they do best: making music that that’s long on thunder and atmospherics, and built on a melodic foundation of widescreen grandeur. Everything Was Forever has all of that, and it also rocks — “Transmitter” has a tough, throbbing pulse and some gnarly guitar to go along with the massed vocal choruses, “Doppelganger” is a speedy charge through a cloud of well-focused anger, and “Two Fingers” offers some high-grade energetic snark as they play on the multiple meanings of the titular expression. Not everything here has that level of punch, but even when Sea Power settle into a midtempo number, this music is full of life and purpose, and as they contemplate living in a nation and a world where much is in chaos and little is what it once was, they summon a courage and vision that’s eloquent. Musically, Sea Power have never been afraid to think big, and Everything Was Forever sounds as big as anyone could hope, but it isn’t excessive — the layers of sound each have a purpose, and the pieces fit together with the intelligence and precision of a chamber orchestra. Sea Power have been one of the most interesting U.K. acts to emerge since the dawn of the new millennium, and Everything Was Forever not only shows they’re still in strong form, it’s as bold and inspired as their best work. If you’re going to make an album to kick off your new brand, this is just the way to do it. – Mark Deming
Tracklist:
01. Sea Power – Scaring at the Sky (04:40)
02. Sea Power – Transmitter (04:36)
03. Sea Power – Two Fingers (05:40)
04. Sea Power – Fire Escape in the Sea (04:42)
05. Sea Power – Doppelganger (04:37)
06. Sea Power – Fear Eats the Soul (04:25)
07. Sea Power – Folly (04:16)
08. Sea Power – Green Goddess (03:18)
09. Sea Power – Lakeland Echo (05:37)
10. Sea Power – We Only Want to Make You Happy (05:03)
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