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Ever since Heavy Age dropped, Unwed Sailor has been that post-rock band that transcends sound, a bridge I can play around mainstream-lustening family members and friends. This album continues the journey they embarked on in 2019, with a more nuanced and creative sound, while still maintaining their distinctive guitars. This album is top tier, a must have.
Favorite track: Skylight.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.
$12USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
- Limited edition of 600 units
- Available at Bandcamp, Unwed web store, tours & local indie retail
- Full-color inner art sleeve
- Blue Oceania colored vinyl
NON-US CUSTOMERS: lnk.to/unwedsailor (go here and we will continue to add non-US stores for better shipping rates as we receive them or do a web search for shops in your respective country)
THE IMAGES YOU SEE ARE NOT ALWAYS GOING TO BE THE GUARANTEED LOOK OF THE VINYL PRODUCT, BUT IT WILL BE CLOSE.
Includes unlimited streaming of Underwater Over There
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Download available in 24-bit/48kHz.
ships out within 14 days
edition of 600
Purchasable with gift card
$24USDor more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
- Full color 4 panel digipack
- CD has bonus track not included on the vinyl version of the album
Includes unlimited streaming of Underwater Over There
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Unwed Sailor have been on a tear over the past few years. Following a quiet phase through much of the 2010s, they reëmerged with the aptly titled Heavy Age (2019), Look Alive (2020), Truth Or Consequences (2021) and Mute The Charm (2023), that chart a remarkable evolution of their bass-led, pop-leaning post rock. On Underwater Over There – their ninth LP overall – a current of 80s goth and jangle-pop runs beneath a litany of memorable hooks and compositional left turns, creating a propulsive and intricate world of sound.
The band worked collectively on all elements of mixing and production to craft a meticulously layered environment, while maintaining an air of spontaneity and experimentation across the set. Early standout, “Final Feather”, drifts through varying landscapes of airiness and haze on a high-neck bass hook, while the hum of voices adds a contrast of angelic comfort. Bearing influence from New Order and The Cure in particular, its balance of gravitas and shimmer is the result of founding member Johnathon Ford’s intuitive writing method: the lead bass line comes first, followed by supporting melodies, drums, guitars, keys, and final detailing.
“Dusty” is a prime example of this process, as Ford’s powerful, low-end groove anchors a full-spectrum array of guitars, bells, and arpeggiations along with Matt Putman’s energetic drum section. Its fluid pacing provides a perfect establishing shot, with shifting moods that gather into a coda guided by David Swatzell’s harmonized, glittering guitar riffs – a sunrise after a moonless night. In quick succession, “Blue Tangier” widens the aperture with a pounding percussive refrain, vibrant bass tone and an unforgettable, fuzzed-out melodic motif.
Sprawling centerpiece, “Junko”, is a loose callback to 2003’s The Marionette and The Music Box, its deliberate stride and interwoven melodies evoking the hands of a mechanical clock, and the anticipation of something long-awaited but nebulous. It drifts effortlessly from innocence to intrigue, expands into a mesmerizing howl, and vanishes abruptly into mist. “Antoinette” conveys many of Unwed Sailor’s unique strengths in a tight four minutes, as its mysterious, wah-wah melody snarls across a massive and deeply textured bed of percussion, pulsing with the kinetic push of a steam engine, equal parts beauty and brutality.
Title track, “Underwater Over There”, commences the final act with aquatic synthesizer loops that ease into chorus-tinged bass and towers of rich melody and counterpoint. This patient fortitude carries into the penultimate piece, “Bend the Air”, which offers the album’s most cinematic passage, a climax of emotional release and breathless exhilaration. By contrast, the brief closer, “V & V”, is a balladic, piano-led ode to Ford’s cats, Voodoo and Veruca; you can easily imagine them resting in a sunbeam, as its backdrop of field recordings nods to the bustling world outside.
While honoring their forebears in winks and nods, Unwed Sailor remain totally inimitable in their approach and style, twenty-five years into an acclaimed career. The band’s clear vision for Underwater Over There has yielded some of their most indelible work, and their inventive, passionate approach gives a strong sense of plenty more beyond the horizon.
Engineered by:
Matthew Putman at Electric Nebraska in Ft. Smith, AR
Kendal Osborne at Closet Studios in Bixby, OK
Johnathon Ford at Current Taste in Tulsa, OK
Chris Colbert at National Freedom in Cottage Grove, OR
Published by Current Taste Music (BMI) / Mute the Charm Music (ASCAP
The instrumental post rock, dream pop ambience of Unwed Sailor has been guided by the vision of Johnathon Ford (Pedro the
Lion/Roadside Monument.) Since starting the band in Seattle in 1998, Ford has combined these elements along with shoegaze, ambient, & film music to create the unique sound and vision of Unwed Sailor. ...more
This Nashville group draws on the classic sound of ’80s goth and gloom pop to create swirling songs with stately keys and haunting melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 27, 2021
supported by 17 fans who also own “Underwater Over There”
Alvvays has always been great, but with this album they took it to the next level. Every one of these songs is lodged in my brain now, permanently (in a good way). s. moxley