Following on from Earth: I in 2021, which was described as “timeless sound art” by Gezeitenstrom, Narrow Skies return with a stunningly evocative EP that is deeply emotive, lyrically challenging, and musically progressive. Inspired primarily by the climate emergency, while simultaneously weaving in adjacent themes of love lost and the passing of time, the album gently juxtaposes feelings of unease and uncertainty with a deep sense of nostalgia and comfort.
All That’s Left Behind establishes the sombre yet hauntingly beautiful tone for the album, with soft lyric-less vocal harmonies making way for the opening vocal phrases that encapsulate the lyrical style of the duo’s music:
“Desolate islands
Sinking sands
Far away from all those years
Memories like the tide.”
Organic instruments juxtaposed with synths and subtly distorted electronic effects close out the song – a momentary reflection before the sparse opening vocals of the subsequent two tracks. Beacon Lights and Among the Stars feature themes of destruction and desolation continue, sung in an almost-unsettlingly ethereal tone by lead vocalist Anita Tatlow, and are accompanied by driving percussion, layers of expansive synths, and cinematic male vocal elements.
The eerie mid-point of the album is Remnants, a purely instrumental track featuring dissonant yet emotive lyric-less vocals, introducing the epic fifth song In the End (On Borrowed Time). Driving percussion and ostinato strings creates an ever-intensifying feel throughout, the song imagines two people walking forward into an unknown future, providing the emotional climax of the album.
“Will all I ever dreamed of be enough?
To carry us beyond this place into the deep unknown”
Track six, This is Not My Home, is a more acoustic affair, with an almost ‘singer-songwriter’ vocal style at points – a welcome contrast to the intensity of what has come before, a comforting production style with lyrics that are anything but. Earth: II closes with a stunning collaboration with eminent ambient artist We Dream of Eden, Future Dreams, which uses instrumental elements from the opening track as well as lyric-less vocals (which also hint at All That’s Left Behind) to create a fittingly cyclical feel to the album, a sombre yet equally hopeful finale.
Listen to Earth: II wherever music is, and watch the music videos below…