Take Care, Take Care, Take Care by Explosions in the Sky

Record Label: Temporary Residence
Release Date: April 16, 2010
Parental Advisory?: No

Explosions In The Sky is an instrumental group founded in Austin, Texas, consisting of drummer Chris Hrasky, and a trio of guitarists: Munaf Rayani, Mark Smith, and Michael James (who splits time between guitar and bass). Often described as post-rock, their music uses typical rock band instrumentation to explore a slightly different musical terrain and texture from what is normally found on rock radio. At times their music can have an almost orchestral quality to it and at others it's a distortion-laden triple-guitar attack.

The band recently released Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, which is their sixth album if you count their mail-order only release, The Rescue. The atmospheric feel of this new effort has definitely seen the intensity dialed back; the band probably uses more silence and empty space here than any of their previous work. Some may consider this a step backwards from 2007′s All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, which was arguably Explosions In The Sky's loudest and most melody driven album to date. However, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care has a more mature and confident feel to it, and I prefer to think of it as the calm after the All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone storm rather than as a regression in style.

All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone demanded your attention, with what seemed like every song culminating in a wall of guitar so immense it's as if the band is trying to create a literal wave of sound. Like one you could surf on. In contrast, the warmer and more open sound of Take Care, Take Care, Take Care demands your attention, but doesn't force it. The listener is required to wade out into deeper waters and cut out other distractions if they expect to hear everything the band wants them to. Some of the most beautiful moments on this album are also the most understated. The intricately overlaid guitars are present as always, but often they seem more delicate than in the past. You also get the big sweeping crescendos that typify the band's sound, but there are more valleys than peaks, and those valleys are deeper and darker than ever before. We're hearing an Explosions In The Sky that has grown over the last four years, and they expect us to have grown as well.

I can understand how some people might be put off by a band that doesn't make use of a vocalist- I get it. I still think we can all agree that lyrical content isn't a necessary component to great music. Excellent composers and musicians have always had the ability to evoke emotional responses to their music without using words. Explosions In The Sky is no exception, and Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is a testament to that fact. If you take the time to listen, I think you will agree with me.

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