Style: progressive rock, alternative rock (clean vocals)
Review by: Stephen
Country: Australia
Release date: 21 August, 2020
Glass Ocean’s latest release, The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else, first sparked my interest when Caligula’s Horse gave them a shout-out on social media. After keeping up with Caligula’s Horse for a while now, I know they don’t just shout-out any ole band. Needless to say, I listened to Glass Ocean quickly after seeing this with decently high expectations set.
Right off the bat you can tell that the production is top notch and the sound is pretty atmospheric. The album starts with the track “Voyage” which immerses you in an ocean-like atmosphere with a very relaxed feel, and the album pretty much maintains the same feel and mood start to finish. Some albums that keep the same mood throughout can start to fall flat as you approach the end of the album, but not The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else. Each track seems to introduce something slightly different and new. For example the crystal clean guitar tone on “A Dream From Which I May Not Wake”, which is absolutely awesome. It almost sounds as if the guitarist is slapping the guitar like a bass. Whatever it is, it works very well.
As I mentioned before, this album keeps a very consistent mood. I think the reason why this album works so well despite the fact that it does sometimes feel “samey” at times, is because Glass Ocean knows what they do well and they want aren’t scared to stick to it. If you specifically look at the tracks “Burn” and “Soul Slumber”, I’d argue that these two tracks are the most “samey” sounding. Is that a problem? Nope. “Soul Slumber” feels like the natural progression of “Burn” and the fact that they are back to back on the album just feels so, so right. I know there will be some listeners out there that might have an issue with the album never taking it to the next level in terms of heaviness, but with the album being under 40 minutes I didn’t really have any issue with this.
Moving on a bit, let’s talk about this vocalist, and his very unique voice. I don’t know who I would compare his voice to, but he has a very unique timbre and delivery. His performance on the album definitely adds a lot to the overall enjoyment. So if you are like me, where vocals make or break the album, don’t worry. Glass Ocean has you covered.
Overall, I really enjoyed this album. If you forced me to compare Glass Ocean to another band, I’d say they are something like a more mellow Voyager. My only minor complaint is that it would be nice to hear Glass Ocean bump up the heaviness a few times on their next album, but as I’ve said before, this album is very enjoyable as is. I can tell you right now, someone is going to catch this album in the right mood and it’s really going to hit the spot. Reader beware, don’t miss The Remnants of Losing Yourself in Someone Else.
Recommended tracks: A Dream From Which I May Not Wake, Soul Slumber
Recommended for fans of: Voyager, Effuse
Final verdict: 8/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | RYM | Twitter
Label: Independent
Glass Ocean is:
– Tobias Atkins (vocals)
– Nguyen Phambam (guitar)
– Julian Dobric (guitar)
– Eamonn Wooster (bass)
– Patrick Smith (drums)
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