Shearwater are not normal. Not even slightly. The title track of this album (their first since signing to Matador) is an apocalyptic vision of a world where all the birds fall from the sky whilst the people all cower indoors. It features this incredible image: “When the rooks were laid in pikes at the side of the road, they were crashing into the aerials, hanging the laundry lines”. Accompanied by gorgeous trumpet solos and stunning vocals, the complex arrangement of this song reveals new depths within itself every time you listen to it.
‘Lost Boys’ is another sumptuously intricate track, featuring marching drums and the stunning lines:
My winged children, all/will fly over the mountain wall/to the lid of the sky/and slice its belly full wide with their warm knives/not the pinpricks of starlight /but to bathe in the bright blood/of the world above
The crashing, discordant orchestral section of the opening track is like hearing the ego ripping itself free from the id in grand style, before being quietly reigned in again before the song ends.
And, to top it all, the melancholic darlings have made the title track available for free download here
8/10
Words: Helen True