Save Everything

Album review

Save Everything by Shipping News seems to have been split up into halves, the first part being more aggressive and rocking, while the latter half is more contemplative and mellow. While these halves may be a bit different, the nautical themes and style of the music blend the two halves wonderfully. It would be wrong not to point out the fact that the flavor of Save Everything has memories of past and present projects of the members of Shipping News, notably Rodan and June of 44. Shipping News combines the beautiful with the dark and heavy, helping to create a picturesque view of the boats rocking in the waves. The beginnings of songs are upbeat and fast moving, then cutting out in the middle to give listeners slow building guitars that sound like bells. Basslines create wonderful melodies to set a groove. The guitar is angular, rhythmic, and infectious in its repetition. Screaming vocals fit perfectly, while samples are placed in the right spots to make everything more dramatic. The players seem to have a wonderful musical relationship, playing off one another. The last half of the record is beautiful. Bass and guitar weave in and out of each other, playing with harmonics and strumming, while the drums provide a backbone to the fur and flesh of the melodic, ringing tones. Rounding everything off, vocals are whispered, giving an account of the long return of an exhausting adventure.
© Francis Arres /TiVo