2019 is the year where musicians who have been around for a long time, decide to start something new – new projects, new bands, new beginnings. That sets the bar for debut albums very high because they know very well what they are doing when releasing new music.
In this tradition, Sail by Summer is a new band from Bergen, Norway that consists of singer William Hut (decorated with ‘Spellemannprisen’-fame, member of the ‘Poor Rich Ones’ and a great solo-artist the past years) and danish keyboarder Jens Kristian.
And so musically this album is a mixture of good indierock that sets the melody as the bar, not loud guitars, and more electronic drums and synth-lines.
The opening song ‘Fetch you roses’ sets the mark for excellent songs on the album: Emotional, just gorgeous melodies, going from calm to louder guitar parts, piano- and synthesizer hooks and William’s well known voice that makes a song unique. In fact, this is right away our favorite track of the album – just in the middle of radio-friendly and indie-styled with some edges.
‘Facing Dullness’ is bit more uptempo, whereas the whole album is more some kind of a slower album, that creates soundscapes that reflect the norwegian nature with all the fjords, mountains and lakes. The use of more distorted guitars that loose themselves in echoes fits very well this ‘Indie’-approach of the song. And this floating guitar licks – so great!
Speaking of mega-rememberable guitar licks/lines: ‘Low Tide Exit’ is based on that. Since weeks this sticks to our head and makes you wanna listen to the song over and over again. There lies so much beauty in melancholy.
‘Low Low Low’ is about the lack of confidence. It is clear that textwise it is not a party-album and that is the strength of norwegian artists: to cover up the melancholy in beautiful melodies.
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The Review
Summary
‘Casual Heaven’ is a fantastic debut album that sails on the edge between pop and indie with a big amount of great melodies and sounds. Just perfect for the upcoming autumn days.