Quarterlifeparty

It must be tough for The Stills after putting out such a great first album Logic Will Break Your Heart to have everyone compare your next couple albums to that one. But it was a great album and Without Feathers didn’t stand up critically as a follow-up (although I tend to still enjoy that album). But what Without Feathers did show was a willingness to evolve The Stills sound that could have easily grown stale if they continued with the same sound album after album as Logic. But there is a fine line between evolving a sound and making it sound natural, and maybe trying a little too hard to go in a specific direction, this is where I believe Without Feathers failed as an album. They lost the moodyness and self-deprecation that existed in the predeccessor and went for a more straight up rock sound, and at the same time even changed the dynamics of the band using the less smooth vocals of songwriter Dave Hamelin (read: not bad singing just different) who also switched from drums to guitar. It had some great songs on it like “Halo the Harpoon” but the album as a whole gave the band somewhat of an image-crisis from an outside perspective.

So here comes Oceans Will Rise, and with the first two singles released, “Snake Charming The Masses” and “Being Here”, The Stills offered hope for somewhat of a return to form, and the album for the most part does lives up to those expectations, but still manages to keep some of the good aspects of Without Feathers (more epic songwriting) while also venturing into a bigger sound.

I have to say from the start that Oceans Will Rise is not as spectacular as Logic, but that wasn’t really what I was expecting either. Their is definitely more mature songwriting in a lot of the songs with some experimentation in many of the song’s bridges that are jarring on first listen but really give the songs extra energy after repeat play. Oceans starts off aggressively with the first 4 songs pushing The Still’s rock aspects. This is a typical album strategy for a lot of bands, but I think Oceans really gets interesting on “Everything I Build” where it might be the first “new” song The Stills offer up on the album. Where everything before this is The Stills….well, doing The Stills. Sure, “Snakecharming the Masses”, “Don’t Talk Down” and “Being Here” have some really great moments and are some excellent songs, but for some reason they feel a little forced in comparison.

“Panic” is one of the more interesting songs on the album with Hamelin singing softly in the intro over a cycling guitar line. The song continues smoothly in this manner until the entire band spontaneous combusts before going into a short bridge and brining the song back; it’s jarring when you first hear it but also somewhat exhilirating. Also of note is the beautiful and very personal album closer “Statue of Sirens” with the lyrics “All this because I lost my mind when it mattered the most…”.

It’s hard to say how well this album will hold up over time, but it’s a welcome addition to The Stills catalog for the time being and a step in the right direction.  And this is just after a few listens, so I could totally think that this is the best Stills album yet in a coupe weeks.

The album comes out next Tuesday, August 19th, and you can stream some tracks here.

Tags: , music , the stills