aaamusic | On 17, Apr 2011

A new album from Explosions In The Sky is more than en event. A band that redefined structures and perspectives of Post Rock returns after 4 years of silence and growing expectations.

‘Take care, Take Care, Take Care’ is a title that induces melancholic thoughts, but no worries, since as the same band say, “even though that title sounds like a sign-off from us, it is far from it.” Explosions In The Sky have still a lot to say in fact, and this album is a tangible proof of unchanged talent.

As expected Explosions In The Sky sound like… well… like Explosions In The Sky. Trademark riffs and atmospheres sound new and familiar at the same time. The same attention to tension through crescendos is dedicated to Take Care as well, especially in second track ‘Human Qualities’, that explodes only in the last seconds, after 7 minutes of heartbreaking suspense.

‘Trembling Hands’ is three minutes of superfluous drum rolling that manages though to give some energy and vitality to the lot. Much impressive effort is made on ‘Be Comfortable, Creature’. If Pachelbel had electric energy, its Canon would have sounded pretty much like this. Echoes of band masterpiece ‘The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place’ drift through ‘Postcard from 1952’. Here though the eye stares at the past with rage rather more melancholic nostalgia. Same feeling appears in last song, ‘Let Me Back In’, maybe the best in the album. Here the Austin’s four-piece seems to reach the glorious splendour of the past. Ironically, here lies the weakness of this album. EITS seem to strive for the perfection of  ‘The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place’ rather than exploring new forms of expression. The result is that ‘Take care, Take Care, Take Care’ sounds too familiar to the expert ears of Post Rock fans, ears that become bored very easily with these 6 tracks.

Author: Lorenzo Coretti