Album of the Week

Explosions in the Sky
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temp. Residence Ltd.)

If Explosions in the Sky were an illness, they would probably fit best with Bipolar Disorder. Explosions exemplify duality. Their sound, while haunting and macabre, also brings feelings of hope and comfort. The music itself has always been defined by crescendos, spending half the time in the quiet zone and the other soaring in stormy skies. Their latest offering, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, doesn't betray its predecessors. It begins with the stellar track- also showing their duality with it's title- "The Birth and Death of the Day," which starts things off with a lift, tears that lift apart, and then explodes- highlighted by the riff at the climax.

One difference with this album from their others is the pace at which they navigate their crescendos. These songs show a stronger diagnosis of this bipolarism than their last record, which can be heard on the tracks, "It's Natural to be Afraid" and "What do You go Home to?," the former the most obvious as it lingers and spurts for a while before picking it up toward the middle where it starts to use emphatic crescendos to make it one of the better tracks on the album. This album is also more optimistic than their last 2 albums. They use the piano at times to exude this on "What do You go Home to?" and most notably, on the finale, "So Long Lonesome," which is much different that anything Explosions has done(it's heavily-driven by the piano and, gasp- clocks-in under 4 minutes) but still has their signature sound there to claim it. The overall finest track on the record is probably "Welcome, Ghosts" as it highlights Explosions strengths and has the strongest melody.


hear: The Birth and Death of the Day, Welcome, Ghosts, It's Natural to be Afraid


www.explosionsinthesky.com
www.temporaryresidence.com