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Avg: 4.0 (194 ratings)
- Date Released: April 5, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Label: Rough Trade
The only band likely to write a torch song tribute to a block of ice.
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We Say...
British Sea Power's trademark maritime imagery is, if anything, even more dominant on this second album than on the band's quirky debut The Decline of British Sea Power, with the narrator of "It Ended on an Oily Stage" heading "for the coastal regions of mind/ To see what I could find," and "Oh Larsen B" offering a lament for the dissolving Antarctic ice shelf: "Desalinate the barren sea," urges singer Yan, contemplating the end of its 12,000-year existence. A torch song tribute to a block of ice is not something you encounter every day, but then most BSP songs exult in the unusual. Among other matters touched upon here are insomnia and dreams, the rustic life, memory and the passage of time, all wrapped up in ringing, anthemic choruses and arrangements which blend gorgeous surround-sound keyboard textures with inventive guitar, banjo and 12-string interplay, the explorations firmly anchored by the hurtling momentum of a powerful rhythm section.
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They Say...
British Sea Power's 2003 debut album was a fascinating post-punk-inspired set that sparked artful originality and thought-provoking emotion. Their follow-up, Open Season, does the same but it's much more of a streamlined affair. Open Season is virtually a 45-minute waltz of lilting string arrangements and dreamy vocals while acoustic and electric guitars chase the album's quiet golden tones. A theme of the great outdoors makes it a relaxed occasion from start to finish; the 11 songs featured aren't a schoolbook interpretation on life's hardships as much as they are a reflection on the confusion (and love) of nature. Frontman Yan and his brother Hamilton remain charming eccentrics, but this time they're poetic with their stoic, overcast outlook on modern life. The question Yan seems to ask throughout Open Season is whether or not life is really crap. Commencing with the copper-toned "It Ended on an Oily Stage," Yan softly croons, "We found God in a parking lot." He ponders whether the experience was actually real, and if it has ever happened to anyone. "How Will I Ever Find My Way Home?," an emotional seesaw of crunchy guitars and sheeting percussion, is oddly comfortable with the album's continuous mental inquisitions. The bird echoes of "Please Stand Up" match the ice-capped perils of "Oh Larsen B," maintaining the album's rich affections. Some might think that the five Cumbrian intellectuals have made their shining pop moment with this record despite British Sea Power making it quite obvious on The Decline of... that they're anything but a pop band. British Sea Power's smart approach on Open Season showcases a band in progress. This album feels alive and breathes honesty. Such an impression once again makes way for British Sea Power to stand apart from their counterparts (Doves, Coldplay, South).
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| 01. |  |
It Ended On An Oily Stage |
4:23 |
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| 02. | |
Be Gone |
2:52 |
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| 03. | |
How Will I Ever Find My Way Home? |
3:11 |
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| 04. | |
Like A Honeycomb |
4:31 |
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| 05. | |
Please Stand Up |
3:07 |
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| 06. | |
North Hanging Rock |
4:26 |
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| 07. | |
To Get To Sleep |
3:16 |
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| 08. | |
Victorian Ice |
3:26 |
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| 09. | |
Oh Larson B |
5:30 |
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| 10. | |
The Land Beyond |
4:00 |
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| 11. | |
True Adventures |
7:52 |
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11 Total Tracks, 46:34 Total Length
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Credits
- Phil Ault - Engineer // Bill Price - Mixing // Tim Young - Mastering // Graham Sutton - Programming // Graham Sutton - Producer // Graham Sutton - String Arrangements // Graham Sutton - Mixing // Mads Bjerke - Engineer // Jeff Teader - Package Design // Phill Brown - Engineer // Tariq Zaid Al Nasrawi - Engineer // George Apsion - Engineer // Abi Fry - Viola // Outlying Station - Package Design // Phil Summer - Cornet
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