"Seas Drain Into Space", the first full-length album from Facing Winter, invites its listeners deep into the unpredictable world of a 21st-century indie band.
Each of the 12 songs lends a different light to illuminate the album's story and the character of the musicians behind it.
1. Moonshine - The album kicks off with its best candidate for a single. "Moonshine" is a tune which quickly sounds familiar. With warm guitars, a pleasing meter, upbeat lyrics, and a sunny melody, the listener may prepare for an 'easy Sunday drive' kind of album.
2. Soul Note - But hold on, "Soul Note" has an entirely different emotional complexion. With moodier guitars and more introspective lyrics, the album takes a turn to explore the difficulties of finding inspiration in the face of desolation. The message encourages the artist to persevere. A first-time listener, who may struggle during parts of track two, should heed the same advice.
3. Slowpoke - More upbeat, but keeping with the sense of struggle, "Slowpoke" is utterly catchy. Anyone who is habitually tardy finds in the song a perfect chorus to repeat whilst chasing the slippery bouncing ball of daily life. It features Justin's nifty dual-instrumentation, using his guitar as a percussion instrument while strumming. In less-capable hands this technique might come off gimmicky. However, the song stands (or rather runs) on its own two legs, exerting remarkable appeal relative to its technical difficulty. Liam and Jeff take full advantage of the song's rhythmic backbone and jam nicely off Justin's lead.
4. Pocket of Change - From the race to catch up with the world, the album moves into the struggle for survival as a modern musician. "Pocket of Change" is a carefully-worded narrative about a female songwriter who can't get a break. It offers a not-too-subtle criticism of the popular music industry and pop consumers themselves. Poignant lyrics and articulate hand percussion compliment a sweet and simple melody. The flesh-and-blood appeal of this track is hard to deny.
5. Killshot - This track begins with a moaning/mourning guitar in stark contrast to the warm guitars of the previous song. After 17 seconds, a brave composition emerges. The rhythm, utterly strange, delivers a sense of urgency unattainable in any standard meter. The artist appears to cease his destiny, and the album's transition into ass-kicking mode begins. Liam's bass asserts itself and a fuller rock sound awakens anyone who had started sinking into the couch.
6. New Explosion - This tune begins with Justin's gritty strumming, drawing the dirtiest possible grunts out of his moody Gibson. Garage-rock anger resonates, then shatters the dingy room -- a blissful sense of freefall replacing it. The rockin'est of what Facing Winter does is harnessed in this 'title track'. It goes by a different name than the title of the album, but it makes mention of 'seas draining into space', and it seems to bespeak the essence of the album: the artist's life is stood upon its head, darkness swarms, but then gets annihilated, blown away by some new explosion, and is replaced by utter radiance. 'Things are gonna fall apart, and that's when you find out who you are.' Jeff's relentless drumming and Liam's steady bass free up Justin to deliver a knockout punch with his euphoric progressions and sugar-sweet "oo" "oo"s. If you don't tap your toes during this one, you should seriously have your tappers checked.
7. Colorful - Here's a song that has been in Facing Winter's catalogue for some time now, waiting to have its potential fully realized. Take special note of the drums. By the end of the song, you can actually hear the hi-hat catch fire. Jeff underwent double Tommy John surgery twice over the past 15 months in order to finish the tracks for "Colorful". Probably the album's hardest-rocking song, its vivid textures do justice to awesome car accidents and near-death drowning experiences.
8. Death Confronts - This one takes the rock factor down a full two notches. A song with both a bright and dark side, the jaunty acoustic melody of the verse -- at first -- seems ill-suited to the song's name. However, in the chorus, this confrontation with death is theorized. There is a rich drama within it: a dialogue between the life-affirming feelings of love in the verse, and the cold embrace of death in the chorus. This is not the easiest listen on the album, but those who invest their attention will be rewarded. It is a fascinating musical exploration of the theme its title suggests.
9. Campfire - A more mellow song, "Campfire" possesses a much more homogenous character than the previous tune. It is warm and true. Where "Moonshine" stands alone as a single, this song may be a more complete piece of music, at least as it is recorded on this album. Where "New Explosion" could be the future, "Campfire" is both past and present. The warmth of Justin's guitar reigns, with perfect compliment from each of the other instruments, bass, drums, and vocals. The maturity of the lyrics is a testament to Justin's arrival as a complete songwriter. This song will retain relevance as long as any song on this album. In exposing new listeners to Facing Winter music, this track should be at or near the top of the list.
10. All For Profit - The rollercoaster quality of the album continues into its final quarter. From the warmth of a campfire, listeners get cast out into the cold rain of injustice. "All For Profit" mixes serenading guitars with whining ones, all over the top of a contagious rhythm. It's giddy-up rock 'n' roll with a steady venting of anger, imparting to its listeners what it feels like going up (the) creek without a paddle, let alone a boat.
11. Bad Idea - A ballad, track 11 showcases Justin's impressive vocal abilities. Sad and happy, with excellent storytelling, a beautiful melody, solid instrumentation, and some engineering polish on the back end, the 'waiting game' of the song utterly flies by. This "Bad Idea" turned out to be a truly excellent idea for a song, and a highlight of this album.
12. Drift - As the album reaches its concluding track, the listener likely doesn't know what to expect. A lonely guitar introduces itself and lets the supporting cast enter in behind it. The song is born of a single thought and builds layer-by-layer as detailed in the lyrics. Beginning as a dedication where the musician struggles to express his love in a way other than music, he succumbs and uses music to get the job done. Then it goes on to embody a radically different sentiment. For the listener who persists through all 12 tracks, and all of track 12, there appears to be a moral of some kind. A flurry of vocal tracks overlay the basic melody in the final minutes of the song, and while it's difficult to dissect the meaning and formulate a coherent message, the feelings are explicit:
Love is born, grows, dies, and out of its death, there is hope it will be born again. The thread of the original verse melody never disappears, but around it the whole universe seems to change twice. The song and album end suddenly to a fan's dismay perhaps, but perhaps it is the perfect ending to an album fraught with surprise.
Final Thoughts - With a mixture of warmth, disenchantment, recklessness, frustration, and epiphanic joy, few listeners will be able to find some chorus that doesn't take hold. For its honesty, originality, and variety, this album sets itself apart from industry standards. For the quality of songwriting, the warmth of the guitars, its steady rhythm section, and the fact that it is Facing Winter's first full-length effort, "Seas Drain Into Space" is an impressive achievement.
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