Another Sky - I Slept On The Floor (Review)
Another Sky comes through with a gratifyingly accomplished debut album...
7th August 2020
Universal
My Rating:
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8.0
/10
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REVIEW
Another Sky is a band I've been following for two years now, having gripped me with early singles "Avalanche", for its suspenseful grandeur, and "Chillers", for its catchy chorus and subject matter. Both provided some pretty jarring social commentary, the former taking a decidedly more abstract stance when compared to the blunt but effective lyrics of "Chillers". Regardless, both were instantly enjoyable tracks, albeit a little basic on the instrumental side of things, but they possessed a certain poise and command of tone that few bands that early into their careers can pull off. Not long after discovering them, they released the stunning Life Was Coming In Through The Blinds EP, a brief four song affair that showed off their phenomenal writing, as well as somewhat expanding their sound palette with the latter two tracks. Combine this with a run of excellent singles leading up to their debut, and you can bet I was excited to see what Another Sky would bring to I Slept On The Floor.
Despite the mild experimentation they've limited to just a couple songs, this is not a boundary pushing band. At times, I do wish they were more sonically explorative, but at least for now that isn't where the band's strengths lie. No, the band excels when it comes to emotion, suspension, and theatrics, striking the balance between melodrama and grit in their dramatic performances of ordinary but meaningful things, both in terms of the depressing lyrics and the uninteresting instrumentals. Their ability to take simple things and magnify them to seeming hugely important is what makes them tick, and a big part of that is down to the vocals of Catrin Vincent, the group's lead singer and honestly their centrepiece, her vocals commanding and otherworldly, utterly unique and hauntingly beautiful. Not only this, but the lyrics she sings are consistently well written, feeling as if they've been torn out of an accessible yet prescient poetry book, the emotion potent enough by word alone, but becoming transcendent when delivered by Catrin's vocals.
If I were to describe the band musically, probably the first thing that would come to mind would be Coldplay on steroids. The instrumentals are unfathomably perfect and measured, the aforementioned command of tone allowing for Another Sky to easily walk away with some of the best crescendos I've heard. Unlike Coldplay however, Another Sky's music is inseparable with emotion, and there's nothing weak or boring about it. This isn't new though, these qualities having been present in Another Sky's music from the very beginning of their career. That said, there is one very welcome change. You see, the problem I didn't realise I had with the band's music was the severe lack of bass and groove before the Life Was Coming In Through The Blinds EP, but ever since that release a noticeable change has occurred in Naomi Le Dune's bass playing, no longer simply another element to add to the atmosphere, and these songs have far more movement because of this, something complimentary to their typical crescendo-based song structures.
From the surprisingly long yet engaging intro track "How Long?" to the title track with its clear Imogen Heap influence (the style of her track "Hide and Seek" now ubiquitous with pop and alternative albums fifteen years after its release), the album certainly has some variety. Even its moments of mediocrity are handled more gracefully and are less distracting than the equivalents by so many of their peers, all these factors culminating in this album being one of the very best in this lane of mainstream indie rock.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. How Long? - 8
2. Fell In Love With The City - 7
3. Brave Face - 8
4. Riverbed - 8
5. The Cracks - 6
6. I Slept On The Floor - 7
7. Life Was Coming In Through The Blinds - 9
8. Tree - 8
9. Avalanche - 8
10. Let Us Be Broken - 6
11. All Ends - 7
12. Only Rain - 8
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 6
Atmosphere: 8
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 8
Content/Ideas: 8
Emotion/Engaging: 9
Execution: 8
Production: 8
Structure: 8
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Lyrics: 8
Vocals/Flows: 10
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Total: 80
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