What's in a name? Sometimes I ask myself that very question as The Half Open Sky Gives Us Hope is not the most memorable name for a band. However, it probably has some deeper meaning. Something significant, even.
"The Explorer" comes at me from nowhere. Like so many new acts to reach my ears, I know little about the creator other than a name (Dan Oehlman) and a list of influences (Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Arcade Fire). Those influences suggest bedsits, iPods and striped cardigans and, at the risk of pigeonholing and patronising the potential market for this kind of music, it does appear that this album has been precisely targeted at those very people.
Entirely instrumental, this carefully constructed set of songs provides a mellow background to the quieter times in your life. Reflective and distinctly mannered, each song builds nicely in a neo classical manner and consequently avoids falling into the pit full of soundtrack cues that befalls so much music like this. There is a particular elegance to "Searching Where The Sea Drowns the Sun" that evoked more exotic comparisons to the likes of Nagisa Ni Te and "Truth As Rare As Cavorite" seemed other worldly like an ode to the man in the moon.
Without lyrics, I can only surmise what these songs actually mean but they do evoke emotion when you listen to them. A bit more drama wouldn't have gone amiss but, then again, the way the songs run together could probably have been a deliberate move. It might even be significant.
And from the half open sky roses rained down on us…