It’s an album full of space in the sense so sparse at times that a feeling of loneliness overtakes the nerves. It’s as if control has been lost. It makes the listener feel like a character in the grand scheme of the album, which is complete with peaks and valleys, pieced together in movements.
A distant clarinetbreaks the darkness on the opening “Nadua,” which builds to a nearly explosive climax, capturing you and taking you into the rest of the album. “Sunday,” the album’s first single, starts once the dust settles. But it’s desolate here singer and guitarist Sean Miller sings, “I want to dream for you now,” as if he’s unable to get out of a cell that he’s been placed in. Pared with the sounds of drummer Pat Troxell’s tambourine, it evokes shackles being dragged across a stone floor. It’s confirmed that that’s where you’re at as bassist Anna Troxell repeatedly asks, “Should I give up?” on “Yellow Wallpaper.”
Creepoid begins the next movement with the grinding riff of “Baptism.” After surviving this much so far, there’s an ominous feeling the entire way through the flatlining “Stay Inside.” On first play through, it’s a little ballad-like, but without any clear story. Pat Troxell’s time-keeping ride cymbal and bass drum on each one hint at a climax that never comes. It concludes, revealing itself more of a segue into the like-minded opening of “Tired Eyes.”
