You know something, I do like it when a band I’ve reviewed before, and like, release new music, gets me salivating and excited to hear the new material and, in some ways, apprehensive. Why apprehensive I hear you say? Well, I wonder if they are going to take a new musical direction that I may not like or produce something inferior to what I have heard before but, music is supposed to be a journey isn’t it? And, you won’t get anywhere unless you’re prepared to travel, physically and metaphysically (don’t worry, I haven’t been indulging in illegal substances) will you? I’ve made a lot of friends through this new vocation of music reviewing, many of them being the artists I have reviewed so when Josh Breckenridge, guitarist and founder of the instrumental progressive band from Arizona, With Our Arms to the Sun, told me they were releasing a new single from their forthcoming 3rd studio release A Far Away Wonder, I was itching to hear what the band had in store for us listeners.
I reviewed their previous release, The Trilogy, last year and was impressed by Josh and his fellow band mates Joseph Leary and Joseph Breckenridge (Josh’s brother), after a few listens to the new single Cosmonaut, would I have found the next step on their musical path or would they be treading water?
The guys were aided and abetted on Cosmonaut by Jonathan Levi Shanes on synth and Brandon Brown on drums, in addition, the drums were tracked with Aaron Harris from the bands ISIS and Palms. My initial thoughts are that, the band have slightly altered their sound from that heard on The Trilogy, where there are some seriously heavy parts to that album, this track has a more sober, pensive sound, very thoughtful in places. The introduction to the song is a delicate guitar, slowly increasing in intensity, like dawn breaking as the sun comes over the horizon. The intricate and powerful drum delivery is key as the wall of sound slowly builds to a crescendo, the use of a the voice as an instrument gives a haunting melody to it and the technical, and decidedly electronic, middle section gives a feel of laid back ambient music to the whole track. In parts the music seems to be treading water, waiting for the next leap forward, be it a nicely weighted synthesiser blending harmoniously with the electronic, dare I say it, dance like beats or the gently strumming of the guitar. In parts the track has mainstream ambient dance music vibe to it and this works incredibly well with the more progressive sound of the majority of the song , blending both to give a fresh feel to the final product. The work with Aaron Harris has really paid dividends on the extremely impressive drum delivery and, overall, if this is the taste of what’s to come from these talented musicians then, I for one cannot wait to hear the rest of the new album, you will have to excuse, it’s time to put my headphones on and go listen to this little beauty again.
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