A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Sea When Absent
Thoughts on a potential album of the year
One of the most abhorrent cliches I can think of is ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’. Sure, it has good intentions. It calls out against the shallow and image-obsessed society that we live in, and I can respect that. I do think though, that it is perfectly acceptable to make assumptions about a book based on it’s artwork. With any type of art or expression, the packaging it comes in acts as an extension. Therefore if a band with a ridiculous name or a hideous album cover record a beautiful, heart wrenching song — these details don’t necessarily take away from it but it holds back on a chance to maximise meaning. It’s the same with a piece of cinema’s title. A film can be beautifully shot and written, but a title that succinctly captures the atmosphere is a work of art in itself. This is all part of the reason I love this record. ‘A Sunny Day in Glasgow’ seemingly sums up the entire ethos of the band itself. That’s exactly what Shoegaze means to me. Shoegaze consists of gorgeous melodies and instrumentation hidden behind layers of effects and abrasive noise. Shoegaze finds the hidden beauty in a wall of sound. Shoegaze is something perfect and idyllic in the most unlikely of places. Almost like a lovely day in one of the world’s most infamously rainy cities.
I’m from Glasgow (well, Cumbernauld), and I think this band from Philadelphia have understood our city better than most local bands. To discuss another cliche, Glasgow is a diamond in the rough. Sunny days are rare but when they do occur they’re especially joyous. A sunny day in Glasgow consists of the city’s entire population celebrating ‘taps aff’ weather in high spirits. In the same way that the city is both the most friendly to tourists and the most prevalent for knife crime, it’s a city of contradictions. This astoundingly rife for analysis band name adds so much to the music, as does the cover — an image of a tropical paradise hidden behind a haze of grey. The packaging of the release has a direct impact on the execution of the project’s goals.
Even without these aesthetic advantages, Sea When Absent would still be an extraordinary album. It blows my mind that a band that consists of members scattered over different continents can create an album so cohesive. The band were never once in the same room during recording, yet it seems they all had a clear cut vision of what they wanted. Sea When Absent is a true mark of it’s times. We live in a world today so globalised that some of the best music comes from long distance correspondence. Technology has advanced so far that people can collaborate in perfect harmony over oceans. This band and album have such a kitsch appeals that it’s almost difficult to discuss the music, but the music truly is something special. I would go as far as to say this is possibly the best Shoegaze or Dream Pop release since the turn of the century. The nineties were a complete golden age for the genres, with a range of perfect albums coming from a handful of accomplished and original bands. Now I feel we may be entering a revival. My Bloody Valentine last year released a third album over twenty years since their sophomore. Slowdive have reunited for a string of live dates, one of which I was lucky enough to attend. Now Sea When Absent marks the arrival of a band that can be mentioned alongside those names, finally taking Shoegaze in a long overdue new direction.
Sea When Absent is more polished than Loveless, the songs are a great deal more upbeat than the miserable odes that pervade Souvlaki, but it exists in that same spirit. A Sunny Day in Glasgow have mastered songwriting in a wholly original manner. These songs meander through different styles, unrecognisable hooks from the ones that occurred just a minute before. Just as the listener thinks they know the structure of a song the band take them by surprise, pushing it in the complete opposite direction. In my many years of music obsession, I don’t think I have ever encountered songwriting like that. You can only hear traditional Shoegaze leanings in certain areas, the extended instrumental part of ‘Boys Turn Into Girls’ and the beginning of the first song ‘Byebye, Big Ocean’. Other songs genre hop impressively. The bassline on ‘Crushin’’ is almost funky, ‘The Body, It Bends’ starts off as a slice of Indie Pop. These juxtapositions define the album — heavy with light, tradition with rebellion, and especially the happy and the sad.
The tone of the album is truly a puzzle. On my first ten or so listens to this album I thought it was especially feel good and upbeat. The other night I saw it through another lens. This album can also sound intensely melancholy. It’s almost as if the tone is neutral and shaped by the conditions in which you’re listening. In the same manner, the album works well both during the day and at night. This quality is shares with some true classics in the genre. ‘Souvlaki Space Station’ is undoubtedly quite a sad song, but at the same time it sounds so vast and inspirational. Ride’s ‘Vapour Trail’ is the closest thing that relates to Sea When Absent, a song so layered and dense that it can at once convey two opposite emotions. Sea When Absent is truly a fantastic album and one that will without a doubt get many more repeat listens in the coming months. Highly recommended.