Moonlit Sailor

So Close To Life

Written by: DR on 20/12/2009 17:52:16

Another day, another promo, another post-rock band for me to sink my eager teeth in to. This time around it's Sweden's own Moonlit Sailor with their full-length debut "So Close To Life". I first got excited about the prospect of listening to this more so than most other promos as a result of some rather flattering quotations surrounding this album. Of course, it wasn't until I searched around for said reviews that I discovered those superlatives were actually not for this album, but their EP "A Footprint Of Feelings". Still, I soldier on, and I think you'll agree that "So Close To Life" has remarkable album artwork. That alone deems this worth a listen, surely? If you still need persuading, read on.

Moonlit Sailor call Boras, Sweden home, where "they often experience weeks without sunlight". Which begs the question: how on earth have they created an album so beautiful, and so pure that it sounds like sunlight in such an environment? Everything about this album is beauty; the aforementioned album artwork seems to have been painted by the music itself as it's the perfect backdrop for songs like "Hope" and "Sunbeams", which have a natural elegance and picturesqueness to them. Maybe mother nature actually gave birth to "Fresh Snow", and Adam, Markus, Oscar and Joakim found it, and decided to pass it off as their own art?

Like many of the young post-rock bands that have coming through the ranks in recent years, they are very guitar-driven. The rest of the instruments provide the solid support base required which allows the guitars to roam free, crafting intricate soundscapes that can grow and culminate before seamlessly drifting to a soft, ethereal lull. Perhaps the finest example of this is the pertinently named "A Week Without Sunlight", which features not only fine soaring guitar-work, but an acoustic bridge before rising to that sweeping crescendo.

"So Close To Life" is undeniably assured for a debut, and utterly breathtaking. Though far from trying to re-invent post-rock, they are on a mission to perfect it, and they have the potential to do just that. They combine the euphoric feeling Sigur Ros induce with all the dynamical awe of This Will Destroy You. It doesn't so much grab your attention, but it arouses it. It enkindles a sort of excitement that will render you absolutely numb.

9

Download: Sunbeams, Hope, Fresh Snow, The Cheers On The Parade
For the fans of: Explosions In The Sky, Sigur Ros, Sleepmakeswaves, This Will Destroy You
Listen: Deep Elm Recors

Release Date 17.11.2009
Deep Elm Records

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