Explosions in the Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Explosions in the Sky are a band that shouldn’t really be popular. Their songs on average are 10 minutes long and have no vocals. Yet they have amassed a pretty faithful following and their (all too brief) UK tour is near enough sold out. Their breakthrough came with the 2003 release The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, very much a post 9/11 album, which mixed moments of beauty, calm and power perfectly. It wasn’t background music you could listen to easily; it grabbed you by the lapels. Since then their music has been featured on a variety of nature documentaries and the movie Friday Night Lights, which gave their music a new lease of popularity. But they have been accused of too much similarity. There’s only so much you can do with instrumentation, the critics pointed out.

So does Take Care do anything to address these concerns? Well, yes and no. This album is much stronger and more robust than their previous limpid offerings and has its moments where it seems keen to make the transition from good to great – the end moments of the second song ‘Human Qualities’ especially. But often when you want them to roar on this album, they whimper. There are too many moments of fragile beauty and not enough catharsis – I’m not saying it should just alternate between ‘soft, loud, soft, loud’ - but it feels very much deflated and lacking the drive of previous albums.

That’s not to say it’s a good album though. The three guitarists – Munaf Rayani, Michael James and Mark Smith – work with each fantastically, guitar riffs winding round each other, building up to create a beautiful atmosphere. And it stands above many in the “post-rock” genre – though Explosions don’t define themselves by this label – their musicality outshines many who’ve gone down the same instrumental route. ‘Postcard from 1952’ and ‘Last Known Surroundings’ are the highlights of the album, ‘Last Known Surroundings’ evoking most specifically “First Breath after Coma” from The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place.

Take Care has its flaws, there’s no denying that. EITS still can’t shake off their tag as a band that can be quite repetitive. But it is something very different to what is played on Radio 1. Explosions in the Sky are a band that will push you out of your comfort zone, and, at the best moments when it all comes together, it creates experiences that are truly stellar.

★★★★☆

If you like this, try Mogwai Young Team, Hidden Orchestra Night Walks, Portico Quartet Knee-Deep in the North Sea

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