If you’re wanting something overt, obnoxious and instant, this probably won’t be for you. But it’s probably something you need.
Musically influenced by the then un-tapped creativity of 90’s post-rock and inspired by the feelings of solitude that comes from struggling to find one’s place in this world, Unfound see’s Winter At Sea returning to the roots of post-rock as a whole. In an age where many an act in this field are shoehorning often incompatible genre dynamics into the framework of the genre in order to discredit the notion that the genre has stagnated – a tact that often pays credence to such a sentiment in itself – Unfound see’s this band rejecting such new-age gimmickry in order to nourish the original touchstones that this genre is built upon; atmosphere, ambience and sentimentalism within the negative space. By returning to the origins of this sound and nurturing tender elements of electronics, folk and ambient negative space, Unfound presents itself as four soundscapes that could both be either solemn soliloquies or gentle lullabies at any given time.
The title track and respective opener ‘Unfound’ essentially encapsulates all of this across it’s five minute run time. Reminiscent of the more minimalist moments of genre pioneers Explosions In The Sky and MONO in thank’s to it’s sparsity and dwelling in the same oeuvre inhabited by current national scene staples such as VLMV and Aaronson due to it’s spacious albeit cohesive nature, the track carries thoughts of both ache and peace simultaneously. Across the span of the track, tranquil moonlit acoustics melodies glide alongside synth swellings that unhurriedly pass through with no quarrel. It’s somewhat ghostly, somewhat ghastly, but enteral and restrained, a fact that harkens to the primary appeal of this EP; it’s lack of immediate gratification.
Instead of playing to immediate urgency and boringly predictable quite/loud crescendos that have become repetitive mainstays in the genre, this is the sound of a band that know to allure and arrest the mind through the power of engaging graceful minimalism. Don’t get the wrong impression however – this EP isn’t host to self-indulgent 10 minute movements of borderline egotistical woe. Instead, these tracks organically pass through naturally and organically, the soundscapes manifesting and disputing like natural lifecycles. ‘We Ride At Dawn’ brilliantly showcases this as the track softly shifts from silently weeping melodies to tender yet imperative keys that come to take centre stage in the piano driven soliloquy within the understandably named ‘Unfounded (Piano 1)’.
Despite all of this though, the final track of the EP is undoubtedly the record’s crowning achievement. ‘When Your Fingers Touch Mine Through A Sleeping Mist’ (yes, possibly the most stereotypical post-rock song title in existence) is a cinematic masterclass in uncluttered ambience, one that directly counters the immediate gratification many have come to demand from both this genre and music and art as a whole. It’s a mournful piece, a track more ambience than traditional song, but one that implores one to truly delve into the scarce yet fully achieved and realised strands of texture that compose it. And perhaps, it’s one that epitomises what makes this EP just so brilliant.
This isn’t going to be a record for those wanting something urgent, punchy and ultimately disposable. It’s not certainly a record designed to spewed forth by a streaming algorithm only to be immediately discarded come the end of it’s runtime. But what Unfounded comes to be is a gorgeous record that requires one to take the time reflect, digest and mediate on it’s components and how it effects ones psyche as it adapts and gracefully evolves. In an age of instant gratification, Winter At Sea is exactly what a lot of us needs.