The Sea At Midnight Present 'Oceans EP'
The Sea At Midnight Present 'Oceans EP'
The Sea At Midnight is yet another singer/songwriter that goes by a group’s name. The singer/songwriter is Vince Grant, who is based in Los Angeles. Oceans is a four-song EP, comprised of moody, alternative rock.
Although by no means a themed EP, the first two tracks appear to follow a kind of theme – at least with their titles. The project opens with the sea-related title track. It’s then followed by “Afraid Of The Waves,” with words that go hand in hand with all things oceanic. Then, of course, there is the band’s name, The Sea At Midnight, which, once again, references an ocean.
The EP’s best track is one called “I Can’t Wait,” which explodes like one of those wonderfully memorable ‘80s New Wave hits. It has a driving, danceable groove, with the kind of emotional urgency one might also associate with Psychedelic Furs. It may be dance-y, but there is also upfront electric guitar running all the way through it.
The aforementioned “I Can’t Wait” also includes an overt bass part. Oceans is a release where bass lines stand out on nearly every track, in fact. For instance, the title cut sports a melodic bass part akin to many of those memorable bass elements found on Joy Division and early New Order recordings. Yes, you might say this sonic factor gives The Sea At Midnight a Peter Hook-y quality in a few places. “Afraid Of The Waves” may well be the most Hook-ish track on the album, as it opens up with a big drum part, before the bass line enters in and propels the track forward.
Grant is a heart-on-your-sleeve kind of vocalist. Everything on this album features a desperate-sounding vocals. He never sounds like he’s just breezing through while vocalizing. Of course, more variety would have been appreciated. However, at only four songs in length, there isn’t nearly enough bandwidth to cover the grand expanse of human experience.
Although the band Echo & the Bunnymen isn’t referenced sonically by these songs, the album’s artwork, with its picture of waves fronting the moon in the distance, may remind you of the artwork for another moon song, “The Killing Moon.” The Sea At Midnight doesn’t sound too much like Echo & the Bunnymen, but the overall Gothic feel of these songs nevertheless echoes (no pun intended) some of that band and its contemporaries’ recordings.
For fans of Gothic music, The Sea At Midnight is a welcome arrival. As with most EPs, the best ones leave the listener wanting more. Such is certainly the case with Oceans. Let’s hope this is but a small taste of bigger things to come. It’s easy for those of us that grew up in the ‘80s to get lost in nostalgia for that era. Yet, it’s a dangerous thing to take too many trips down memory lane; especially when great music – like Oceans – is being recorded every day. Maybe you’re one that’s disappointed with modern music, in general. If this is you, give The Sea At Midnight a chance. It might just be the sonic sea change you need right now.
-Dan MacIntosh
