Have you ever looked back at your teenage years and thought, what the hell was I thinking? I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves this question at some point in our adult life. Don’t you wish you had a guide or a manual to move by because of how lost you felt and just had so many unanswered questions? Seafarers’ new album “II” is that manual we’ve all hoped for during our teenage years. The band is back with a 2nd album after the huge success of their debut album “Orlando” released back in 2020, the album was such a hit and received amazing feedback from different renowned platforms and high streaming numbers like “And Maybe I’m Scared” the 7th track in the album that reached over 112K streams on Spotify only.
The seafarers are a group of five remarkable musicians with different backgrounds and diverse interests, the London-based group united their interests and extensive background resulting in clashing genres between contemporary folk, jazz, indie folk, improv, and chamber pop to create a unique and aesthetically pleasing sound. The group was brought together by Matthew Herd the saxophone player and songwriter in 2018 to record their debut album, joined by Lauren Kinsella who is a vocalist, composer, and improviser. The third member of the band is the guitarist and vocalist Arun Thavasothy who has a remarkably distinctive voice with a unique character. Tom McCredie is a bassist with a reputation as one of the country’s most original instrumentalists and writers and then Dave Hamblett, who is a remarkably talented drummer. Tom Taylor is a long-term musical collaborator and pianist and is well known for his improvised music talent. Together this strong, skilled, and experienced group of musicians were able to create something much more than a sound to entertain, it’s a story, a manual, and a guide for all the lost teenagers out there.
“II” is a 10-song album with a well-curated storyline and order of events, the first half of the album is about the wild feelings we experience in high school and how we try so hard to fit in and impress everyone around us, that we become desperate to grab attention and join the “Cool, popular crowd”. It’s the wild ride of an emotional rollercoaster where you question everything about yourself, your sexuality, your feelings, and your identity. It is reflected in songs like “Newlyweds” and “A disappearing Act”, which both combined have over 170K streams on Spotify only. The second half of the album is about what’s going on behind closed doors and starts to dig deeper into the inner struggles that not everyone sees or understands which shows in “The Curators” which Matthew Herd says was probably the most personal song he has ever written. A beautifully organized series of events that covers it all. The album was produced by Euan Burton, with the help of sound engineers Katie May, Patrick Phillips, and assistant engineer Loan Hazell. The mixing was done by Patrick Phillips as well at Real World Studios and mastered by Patricia Sullivan at Bernie Grundman Mastering. This album is not just about music or entertainment, it’s about so much more!!