Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Explosions in the Sky are one of the best known bands in the broader post-rock scene, their bright arpeggios instantly recognisable for those that have heard them before. Take Care, Take Care, Take Care continues the band’s trademark sound, but strips back a lot of the bombast, leaving a surprisingly delicate album. It seems strange to call such a bombastic album delicate, but it is fitting, if only in context. While there are the moments of grandeur and the sound is quite full, there’s something in the mix and in the playing that feels truly spacious and allows each aspect of the song to stand on its own. The pianos have also been removed from the songs for this album and have been replaced with ambient sounds and gentle drones, something else which smooths out the bombast. This is joyous post-rock, a rare and somewhat precious thing in the genre, which trends towards melancholy. EitS have certainly flirted with this path before, on The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, but here it is pushed even further, towards euphoria. Guitar tones sparkle and major chords shimmer, exalting the listener. This is certainly an unusual route, Sigur Ros’ Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust being one of the few other examples that springs to mind. Much as with that album though, the positive emotional resonance leads to a certain lack of tension in the music that generally elevates the best songs of the genre. Take Care is solid, but it lacks the purposefulness of their previous releases; the recurring motifs of The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place or the sheer full-throated explosiveness of All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone. The quieter moments tend to feel like lulls, rather than the eye of the storm, the moment before you become enveloped in the sound again. The guitar work seems to have taken some cues from indie rock, moving away from the intricate tremolo of previous releases and concentrating more on chords and slower arpeggios. The drums too have been lowered in the mix and rarely reach the driving urgency that has so propelled the band’s best tracks. The one exception is Postcard from 1952 and this is easily Take Care’s highlight. It’s also the most obvious throwback to their earlier work and that makes the slight drop in intensity elsewhere all the more noticeable. While never quite matching the heights of EitS’ back catalogue, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is still a worthwhile release. A talented band doing what they do, and doing it well. Fans will certainly enjoy it, but it’s not likely to change anyone’s mind and those looking for an entrance into the band are advised to go back to their earlier albums if they really want to be blown away.