Overhead, The Albatross are a Dublin post-rock quartet who drew their name from a line in Pink Floyd’s 1971 Meddle album track ‘Echoes.’ They released their second album, `I Leave You This`, this month.
The album opens with `A Letter` which is piano led with a spoken word oration in letter form that seems to be from a father to their child, advice given to reflect on later in life. I read that `Your Last Breath` is “a song that both mourns death, loss, and grief, and celebrates the awe and beauty of this life we all share with one another.” It begins gently and has a reflective awe before the final minutes becomes a narration of grief a kind of expressive eulogy to somebody close who has recently passed and I’m sure will resonate with anybody who has experienced the overwhelming emotion of grief after a close relative or loved one has passed away.
`Welcome Home` has a shimmering haunting sense with some quietly spoken conversation sprinkled throughout and a haunting vocal shared in the latter half, a number that celebrates the joy of birth. A quick search of `L`Appel du Vide` appears to translate `to the call of the void` which describes the feeling of an urge to jump or fall from a high place, even though you don’t intend to do it. This phenomenon is also known as the high-place phenomenon or intrusive thoughts. It has a strange ambience to it as it glistens and shines with an almost harder edge as it evolves but is fairly mesmerising overall.
The sound of breaking waves leads us into `At Sea` an entrancing listen with an underlying percussive and electronic beat that hints at life`s unpredictability. `Hibakusha` is a Japanese term for the people who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and this number mirrors the resilience of human spirit. A reflective piece with spoken word and vocals fused throughout which seems to build in volume and depth before ending with a spoken word piece in Japanese, offering hope and optimism even in the darkest of times.
`Miss Na Kitta` seems to be `I missed you` in Filipino and is a strange mix of percussive sounds blended with vocals both spoken and sung in a strange but absorbing style. We have in `This is Like Love` a heartfelt nod to the music that shaped the band’s youth. A track that is about falling in and out of love and has a kind of Southeast Asian musical synthesis with classically trained ‘Carnatic’ singer Drsyaa added some enchanting vocals.
`Paul Lynch` is dedicated to the band`s friend who passed away during the creation of the album and who was instrumental in the groups return to making music after their hiatus. A trippy, dreamy but heartfelt musical homage. The album closes out or is bookended with `A Letter 2` a spoken word rendition of a Filipino folk tale over a haunting euphonious accompaniment.
`I Leave You This` is an utterly overwhelming listen with elements of prog, math-rock, spoken word, and electronic sounds shared throughout. A release that is full of reflection and introspection and may leave you engulfed in thoughts and meditations of your own.
Rating 8.5/10
