Album Review

Falling Off Maps – A Seaside Town In Winter

• 27th Jan 2014

Ever the sceptic when this landed on my desk, I was dubious. Anyone touting the names of prolific bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Radiohead and Bon Iver as their likeness needs to fill some pretty big shoes. Couple that with an album that was made for less than £500 in basements, bathrooms and bedrooms, in a process that took over 3 years and the heart fades a little. As per usual though when you judge a book by its cover you are proved wrong in the most delightful ways.

A Seaside Town In Winter, a name that can be considered a metaphor for a generation of young people in the UK right now, encapsulates the perspective of that demographic. Its eerie, desolate and cold appearance hides the possibility of hope and liberation that is still very much alive, if they can just hold on long enough. Falling Off Maps explore this desperation and longing for something more than a dreary existence with beautifully expressive lyrics and vocal prowess. It is more than just a collection of those feelings; an example of skilfully constructed and sensitive song writing.

The album’s lengthy production slowly reveals itself over the duration, not only in the love and care crafted into the tone and mood of each short story but as well in the space each track is given to develop, grow and then subside. There is no clutter within the tracks, each instrument gently placed at its most appropriate and effective. There is an overwhelming sense of a labour of love about this record. Breaking the hour mark by a good seven minutes in an age where we struggle to hold attention for even a portion of that is a bold move. It is one though that is undertaken with confidence and the album pulls you in just as often as it lets you drift out to get lost in the soundscape it creates.

Musically the band blend a mix of sounds and styles across the album that gives it depth, and in this case it’s a variety that compliments the motif. Starting out merging haunting acapella with a distorted mix of electronic samples it moves swiftly into a buoyant track which showcases their instrumental expertise. This ebb and flow of styles is what holds your attention and allows it the album to create a dream-like mental procession. It pulls focus just as often as it allows you to sit back and absorb the ambience it creates.

This is an incredibly powerful and well crafted record, it screams of professionalism and an understanding of themselves that you rarely see in a debut album. To say we liked this album would be an understatement and even though with a January release you run the risk of getting lost or left behind in the rest of the year’s deluge, this is an album that will be hard to be pipped out of position as one of the best. We can definitely see good things coming from Falling Off Maps in the future, but lets hope it doesn’t take another 3 years.

– Alex Fisher

Venue: A Seaside Town In Winter
Support Band: Square Peg Round Hole