Album Review

All We Are - All We Are

Item: All We Are - All We Are
Rating: 3

With grace defining their every step, they’re not far off from cracking the formula.

Reviewer: Jamie Milton

Released: 9th February 2015

Label: Double Six

“There is nothing like it when it strikes,” runs one of several unfalteringly pretty lines found on the debut album from Liverpool trio All We Are. The group consists of three musicians from diverse backgrounds, their roots spanning from Ireland to Norway, all the way to Brazil. Together, they unite on a strange kinship, Richard ‘O Flynn and Guro Gikling’s vocals delicately combining, Luis Santos’ spiralling, glasslike guitars doing the rest. And despite this being a patchwork debut that only occasionally finds its true rhythm, when things click, All We Are stand out as one of the UK’s most promising new acts.

This first work comes produced by Dan Carey, whose custom tactic involves placing bands in smoke and laser-filled studios, dimming the lights and letting exposed senses do the rest of the work. “We all came out of it as new people,” Santos told DIY last year, speaking about the experience. “This one track - while we were playing it, I felt like I was wading through water,” added Guro, pointing to a deeply psychedelic experience that matches the band’s early, ether-effect singles, sitting somewhere between Tame Impala and Warpaint’s deepest jam sessions.

Truthfully, All We Are’s debut isn’t that far detached from reality. It’s a human record, detailing the most fragile aspects of an intimate relationship. On the rejoicing ‘Keep Me Alive’, a maxed-out crescendo builds on the line, “I hear nothing at all but you breathing,” crystallised guitars standing to attention like hairs the back of a neck. When the trio truly hit their groove, like on the record’s second half, they speak gorgeous truths from the same page. ‘Go’ simmers into a spacious, beautiful space, while ‘Something About You’ has Gikling’s vocals sinking into an easeful glow. There’s most certainly something about All We Are, and it’s in these more delicate, free-to-roam moments that they find their port of call.

Aspects of the record come off slightly muddled. It’s almost as if by removing themselves of the initial psych wave that debut ‘Utmost Good’ pleasantly surfed, they sometimes wind up lost in a blank space. ‘Ebb/Flow’ hints at bigger things, but fails to go beyond chugged synth lines and light guitar plucks. ‘Honey’ especially doesn’t feel like it belongs anywhere on the record, its funk groove coming off misplaced when up against the more precious stirs of ‘I Wear You’ and the momentous ‘Feel Safe’. Still, for the most part All We Are edge towards a unified sound, one that combines Santos’ excellent guitar work with a higher conscience. Not since the simmering Rhye has a band announced themselves this capable of soundtracking intimacy, from ‘Feel Safe’’s chant of “I want you” to the bold next step, ‘I Wear You’. With grace defining their every step, they’re not far off from cracking the formula.

Tags: All We Are, Reviews, Album Reviews