Sea and The Darkness by Galileo Galilei // Album Review

, ,

I almost don't want to write this review because it really means this is the end. Earlier this week, Galileo Galilei announced they would disband in early spring of this year. Sea and The Darkness would be their last album. I am terribly sad. Tears were shed.

I honestly never expected they would disband, even with the departure of two members in 2012. It just never occurred to me. Even when I was out exploring the world, trying out different sounds and bands. They were constant, always that place I could comfortably crawl back into. The band, I knew, made music that comforted my soul. (Even if not every single song was outlandishly amazing.)

This album is a long one. 16 tracks in total, starting off with a warm and intimate prelude, reminiscent of live music being played in a bar. The tracks forward then go on to display a good range of different genres, some songs more folk than others and some a little more pop. One can definitely tell that they experimented with different levels of mixing and production. Take Kung Fu Boy which has a slight muffled filter or Aoi Chi which uses a minute level of echo all the way through or Sea and The Darkness II (Totally Black) which delivers a brilliant usage of the reverb effect. And like riding waves of the sea, this album presented high tides of fast-paced, catchy tracks and small ripples of simplistic, slow-moving tracks and Galileo Galilei's special touch, the undercurrent that held it altogether. My favourite song has to be the last one on the album, Bonnie and Clyde. It just stays in my head on loop all day.

I would like to express how adorable the cover art is. The quirky and cute art of a dog running away from a sea of dark hands, towards a door of light just screams symbolism. One of their best covers by far. With all compliments aside, there is a major problem I have with this album and this band, in general. Some of the songs are too similar. It's like they recycle verses and try to mishmash bits and pieces here and there. Though I'm sure it's intentional to a particular extent. I do appreciate the recurring themes of "青い" and "鳥".

Regardless if this album was objectively good or not - fortunately it was good, I would love it anyways. After all, it's the last one. How could I not treasure it?

Galileo Galilei, Thank you and Goodbye for now.

Note: According to their website, something might be in the works. I translated their goodbye message from the official website. There are definitely mistakes but you'll get the gist of it. Because of that message, I will hold a small shard of hope for new projects and the like. 

Galileo Galilei's

Support the band through