Post-Rock is one of the broadest musical genres out there. It can range from haunting and creepy over electronic ecstasy all the way to dreamy soundscapes. Feed me to the Waves are surely over on the dreamy side of the spectrum. Their newest work Apart is out since last week and it is time for me to take a dive into the waves.
When I first started my journey into Post-Rock and especially Dunk!records Intill by Feed me to the Waves was one of the first records I got and it still is one of my favourites. How does their new one hold up to that?
When the first notes of ”Never Able” came through my speakers, I could feel the immediate relaxation I came to expect from a new FMTTW record, but there is something beneath that. Something that does not seem quite right. With its slow and swelling start and the explosive drums it is a beautiful opener and also the production quality is just splendid. Those beefy drums are a perfect contrast to the guitars flying all around. After a few minutes the intensity subsides and leaves room for the melody and their dream-like soundscape. This first nine minute track already encompasses everything I love about this kind of Post-Rock.
”Never Able” already has shown us what the band intended with this album and its title Apart: it displays an incredible contrast between the calmest of the calm parts and the loudest and heaviest sequences. They wanted to create “bigger bigs and smaller smalls” and this is already evident in the first track. While Intill always felt very soothing, Apart shows more of a distressed side. How can one not be at least a little stressed when talking ”About Present Tense”.
All the things that happened in the past few years influenced this album a lot. The existential questions, which the band asked themselves when writing the album, only got amplified by recent events and this inner conflict is beautifully shown in their music and yet this album can help you calm down and lose yourself in the music without feeling a lot of dread and anxiety. It is definitely not as calming as Intill though. When those eruptions happen in the songs, you feel thrown right out of the dream and back into reality.
To be honest, I didn’t listen to that much Post-Rock this year, but I am glad I came around to listen to this incredible piece of music. The album turned out very different from what I originally expected, it is totally understandable though, why the band chose not to go for the purely dreamy and escapist route. The record feels like the expression of their inner turmoil and personal troubles as well as their hope for peace and serenity in these trying times.
