Originally starting off as an experimental project, We Came As Strangers gathered quite literally as strangers. With only guitarist Justin Sandercoe being the connection between each musician, this band was formed as an open book with limitless creative potential. The new album, Eyedom, was an opportunity to show what happens when the universal language of music is used to bring strangers together, and with a line up like this one, we were expecting to be impressed.
Putting things into perspective, the band consists of Justin Sandercoe (guitar), who can include Bryan May and Steve Vai on his fans list, as well as Tim Harries on Bass who has been used by the likes of Brian Eno. Just to add to things, singer Ellem’s music has featured on Grey’s Anatomy and About A Boy and Owen Thomas, completing the line-up, has worked on various TV and film soundtracks.
With Eyedom being their third album, these musicians are now an well-worked, highly capable music making group; and it shows. The album is opened by the title track and it is immediately mesmerising. Athough it takes a while to get fully started, this just helps with the build up in the song. What is striking throughout the album, although noticeable in the first few tracks such as ‘Stupid Things’ and ‘Still Life’, is the atmosphere that the band has managed to create in their music. It’s difficult to explain it but it is a comforting feel while at the same time creating this dramatic and tense aura, playing with various emotions as a listener.
There is a constant ambience that the album seems to possess even in the slightly more upbeat/energetic tracks such as ‘Trouble’ and the ending of ‘Recess’. These tracks build and build into what sounds like a huge wave of haunting music. The combination of the subtle guitar and bass riffs along with the soft yet still powerful vocals provide an unusual but positive listening experience.
The band continue their atmospheric style with a spooky ballad-esque track called ‘Madeline’, ‘High Coming Down’ and ‘Nine’, which prove to be stimulating instrumentals. It is obvious what these musicians have strived for with the album. They have attempted to create their own musical atmosphere with music that is extremely dramatic; and that is definitely what they have achieved. Successfully. You can definitely hear the TV/film music influence.
This over-hanging constant atmosphere, however, does mean that they limited themselves and hence lacked some variation in sound at times. Although each song is very individual and unique in it’s sound, they all have a constant. The album needs a track that is maybe a bit more upbeat, a bit more poppy. Maybe a few more synth strings that feature in tracks like ‘High Coming Down’, which leave a huge impression on the song.
Nevertheless, this is undoubtedly a group of highly capable musicians. The final track, ‘Carousel’, shows us that on it’s own! The musicianship, songwriting and thought put into this album shine straight through and have left a lasting, possibly a bit haunting, impression on us.
