Was no one gonna tell me about this masterpiece of an album???
I worked my way through the EPs and singles and albums today, making a darling little cherrypicked playlist, and then I got myself caught up in Tsunami Sea and I just???
I must have let it run through four or five times while I worked. I’m still *out* there.
This discography is a marvellous thing in its entirety. But Tsunami Sea???
Tsunami Sea is the one 🙂↕️🖤
One whole year since this masterpiece came out, and I’m in the exact same position I was, staring up at my ceiling while the first chords of Janie play out.
I remember the night before, all the excitement and anticipation, and people getting the album earlier and feeding back their reactions. It was so much fun.
I put my headphones by my pillow so I could grab them the minute I opened my eyes in the morning. And I can recall exactly how it felt hearing all those tracks for the first time. Tears running down either side of my face while I just took it all in. How Nettles/FME felt like coming home, how the Radio Towers to Tempest transition totally floored me (along with Tempest’s outro - holy, holy fuck), and the swell of just absolute melancholic glow during the Waco.
Since then I think I’ve listened to the whole thing almost every day. It’s become my favourite album of her discography, and of all time. Its sound is so grounding for me. If I’m ever having an awful day, or I need to regulate, it goes on from start to finish.
And recently on a flight to Italy, I got to listen to the whole thing, and let me tell you, Willoughby’s Theme hits different when you’re moving through clouds.
Anyway, I’m sure this will be one of many posts today (I saw someone’s already posted a ranking, just as I was finishing up making this silly little cover image), so for *this* post I ask:
Where were you a year ago today?
Tell me about your first time with Willoughby 🤎
I was listening to Sleep Token this evening and Constance came on shuffle - I went to skip back to my playlist but ended up totally hooked.
So I’m here to say hello (👋) and would love some of your Spiritbox recs! Just any nods in the right direction for a fan of, at the moment, this one song.
EDIT:
Right, I’ve listened to all recs so far and thought I’d update! Below are all the songs I enjoyed and my notes for each (if something isn’t included, I may have missed it or more likely I didn’t fully connect with it):
- Holy Roller - COOL.
- The Mara Effect, Pt. 2 - BIG fan! ‘Sing to me something sweet, threatening’ is exactly my experience with this band so far, mhm.
- Ultraviolet - LOOOOOOOVE!
- Secret Garden - OH YES, love love love.
- A Haven With Two Faces - I like!
- Ride The Wave - Really nice. Especially the build in the middle.
- Jaded - ‘Memorieeees faaaded, *BLOOOOD IIIIS JAAAADEEEEEEEED*’ Exquisite.
- Circle With Me - ‘I climb the altar and I claim my place as *GOOOOD*’ Fab.
- Soft Spine - A ride!!! Scared and enamoured. The electrical/digital overlays are insane.
- Cellar Door - Didn’t expect to enjoy this but on the contrary. Screamed vocals scared me for years until I actually listened to them, now I’m like ✨🌷💖 Oh 💖🌷✨
- Crystal Roses - Gorg.
- The Summit - ADOOOOOOORE!
- The Void - Really like this too.
- Eternal Blue - This is great, and it’s got me excited to listen to the full album.
- Deep End - WOW WOW WOW, yes. Absolutely yes.
- Too Close / Too Late: OTHERWORLDLY, and an instant replay. Shit yeah.
- Perfect Soul: Gagged, adore this too.
- Tsunami Sea: Soooo niiiiiiice, holy moly.
- Blessed Be: YUP. ‘I say my blessings all for you, you say blessed be the fool’ Splendid.
- Keep Sweet: Big love!!! Those closing electrics are heavenly.
- Halcyon: Great! I’m gonna live by Eternal Blue I just know it.
- Hurt You: Hell yeah, this album is mentally good.
- We Live In A Strange World: ‘Collapse a vein so you don’t drown’ is wild, great song.
Thank you to everyone who has commented! I can safely say all understood the assignment and completely converted me to Spiritbox!
Excited to rewind back in their discography and work my way forward for my master playlist ✨🙌✨
RIGHT, this is gonna be a journey, so buckle up and settle in ✨
It’s almost been a month since I started listening to Sleep Token, and in that time I’ve gone through what I’m told are the usual motions of absolute obsession. I listened to every song on Spotify that I could, and made a chronological playlist of ONLY my favourites, which turned out to be basically every song they’ve ever put out, barring a handful … which I’ll get into below.
Now that I’ve had more time to swirl around their catalogue, and I’m getting to know them and what I do and don’t like, I’m finding myself appreciating a lot of songs I didn’t enjoy on my first pass.
SO, I thought it would be fun (for me, but hopefully also you) to journal my thoughts as I revisited them, and see if any would be granted entry into my master playlist.
Are we ready to roll?
Okay, so let’s start with the good news first:
- Thread the Needle - at first I didn’t like the rhythm of the guitar in this one, but since listening to everything in full, I really like the feel of it now - especially the scrambled vocals in the second half!
- Calcutta - coming off the intense highs of Eden and Arcadia, only to dive straight into this felt … underwhelming? And a bit scattered almost? But coming back to it now, I’m like no, wait, this is wonderful. Love the almost telephone-receiver-esque notes of it, and that last quarter is truly mesmerising. I’m also a sucker for a longer-than-average song, and being taken on a layered journey throughout them (see: Ethel Cain).
- Jericho - HELLOOOO? I honestly think I was so enamoured by Nazareth, wanting to immediately go back and listen to it again, that I totally swept over this BEAUTY … curse my impatience!!! ‘Something in the way you lay, enough to make the dead switch graves’ is actually INSANE? ‘’Til I wake, I dine on old encounters’??? A new fave for sure. I can’t stop replaying it.
- TNDNBTG - going back and hearing the echo of Euclid made me quite emotional actually. I was like oh it’s … wait … *OH*!!! Truly sublime.
- Dark Signs - don’t know why this one didn’t click initially, maybe it was the minor gendering of ‘I miss the man I was’ which blocked me off to begin with? I tend to avoid songs with lyrics like this, as they can tickle at my dysphoria a bit, but I’m growing! And I really like this one now.
- Higher - another one that’s a mystery to me? I guess the lyrics just didn’t gel as much at first, but ‘you need a melody, I only need the silence’ is so lovely. Big yes from me.
- Give - starting to think I was half asleep during my first listen of Sundowning … Anyway, in my defence, I generally find songs with repetitive choruses tricky, but actually this song barely qualifies as that, and the rhythm makes for a nice listen (unlike Say That You Will … but we’ll get to that).
- Gods - I used to think I didn’t like screamed vocals but I’m pleased to say Sleep Token has brought me into the LIGHT (Vore is EVERYTHING to me). Love the rage in this one, love the heavy breathing, and love the respite of the piano in between it all.
- Blood Sport - this is just a flat out gorgeous song, and I should have given it another chance sooner. That said, it is so, so sad, and I do have to skip the sobbing in the outro as it feels like I’m intruding almost.
- Is It Really You? - I think I was so eager to leave the singles and get back into the full albums that this one passed me by. The piano and vocals so gorgeous. Stripped back in comparison to a lot of other songs, but it has such a heart beating in it.
I now want to give all of the above songs a kiss on the head, and apologise to them for not listening properly the first time. They’re now playing happily with the rest of the group.
There are still, however, a few stragglers that are sitting with their arms CROSSED and faces GRUMPY and who REFUSE to come out with the others (for the time being). I know you can’t realistically love every single song in an artists backlist - some just aren’t gonna abe for you - but so far these are the only six I can say that for:
- When the Bough Breaks - on first listen I found it a bit too tinny, and I still kinda do. Though I do like the Life is Strange vibes of it, and the drop is a wonderful relief, and I also like the dreamy off-kilter violins and piano at the end. Give me time on this one, folks, I’ve almost got it. EDIT: After an overwhelming surge of love for this song, I’ve given it some real time and have decided I do really like it, so it’s added to my master playlist! Thank you to Angry_Artichoke_0823, thefearedturkey, twinmamaeo, and AshleyKay1997!
- The Way That You Were - I can see myself coming around on this one too, but for right now it’s a skip. I like the organs, it’s nearly there, but not quite a smash. EDIT: Chthonic_void has shown me the light! Consider this one officially resurrected.
- Say That You Will - the song is okay, but as I touched on above for Give, repetitive choruses can be hit or miss for me. Considering this a miss for now. Apologies my boo.
- Fall For Me - a lovely song, but it doesn’t gel for the same reason as Say That You Will. As ever, I’m open to being swayed. EDIT: A lot of flags waved for this one too, and I hear you all. I’ve come to appreciate this one now, thanks to skarlatha, lissocat, smaugismyhomeboy, and Basic-Computer2503!
- Descending - this one just isn’t for me. I like the close-to-the-ground beat of it, I just can’t get on with the whole at the mo.
- DYWTYLM - same for this one. I actually DO wish that I loved you … but I actually find you a wee bit grating, if I’m honest. And it pains me to say, because I think TMBTE is my favourite album. This song does its thing, but it sort of just has the one thing, as opposed to its neighbouring songs that dip and dive into so many places within a few minutes. I gotta pass this time, I’m sorry.
If any of these are your favourite song, I say play on! They are by no means bad, and each has qualities I really like - this band is on a godly level when it comes to music making.
I do feel bad for not getting on with these just yet, so part of the reason I wanted to make this post was to give you lot the stage to maybe chime in on why you love them? Or maybe you agree! Speaking to other fans does tend to add extra dimension to my opinions.
Are there any other songs that you still can’t vibe with? Maybe some that you thought you didn’t like and now absolutely live by?
I’d love to know!
(And, if you made it this far, I love you too 😘)
Hayden just posted this, and obviously one is Gibson Girl - but do we think she’d do a mirrored song for Preacher’s Wife called Amish Boy?
(I’m half joking, but also x)
Had to make some really tough calls, but we made it.
I wanna see all yours!!!
Sleep Token found me three days ago and I haven’t been the same since. I’ve already gone through everything I can on Spotify and created a playlist of faves (basically every song on every album?), and have just been cycling it over and over and over.
Also made the mistake of reading lyrics, and they’ve already for this gal down on one knee after just a few days.
I’ve never really dabbled in alt metal before, tending to just revolve around Ethel Cain and my usual slowcore/shoegaze arsenal.
But then Even in Arcadia happened, and here we are. My over-ears are permanently fused to my head.
I’ve also had a little wander through this sub and I just wanna say you all seem so lovely and welcoming - which is wildly different from other fan subs I’ve been in. It’s actually *delightful* to not be instantly met with snobs and gatekeepers, especially as a new listener. So I just wanna say HELLO, and for anyone interested, I’ve made a lil list … (which changes every time I listen to another song, but) so far we have:
THE album:
Take Me Back To Eden - tears, chills, heart palps, stank faces, etc.
(But honestly This Place Will Become Your Tomb and Even in Arcadia are also insane, so idek)
THE song:
Gethsemane - ‘WHAT-MIGHT-BE-GOOD-FOR-YOOOUR-HEART …. *!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* … MIGHT-NOT-BE-GOOD-FOR-MYYY-HEAD …. *!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*)
THE gold stars:
Caramel
Euclid
The Love You Want
Take Me Back To Eden
Ascensionism
Nazareth
Jaws
The Summoning
Take Aim
Chokehold
High Water
The Apparition
Tolomeres
Emergence
Even In Arcadia
Damocles
Vore
And THE ones I couldn’t leave behind:
Infinite Baths
Provider
Aqua Regia
Are You Really Okay?
Fields of Elation
Hey Ya
The Offering
Mine
Missing Limbs
Feel like I’m just now actually *hearing* For Sure for the first time.
Regrettably, I’d left it out of my master EC playlist since its release, as I didn’t initially connect with it … but holy fucking shit - was I well!?
It’s *so*, so lovely. The dreamy intro, the birds, the *atmosphere* and that *build*!!!
I don’t think I’m the only one who decided to sleep on it, but wanted to raise a hand to anyone else who’s actually fallen in love.
Edit: Actually, having thought about it, the song came out before Perverts and WTIALY (my beloved), and honestly I think those projects really fostered my appreciation for atmospheric slow burners. So it makes sense I’m rediscovering it now with new ears.