Coral Grief - Air Between Us [LP]

"Their music is wondrously dreamy, floating in the ether with gentle textures and focused rhythms." - Post-TrashCoral Grief, the Seattle rock trio, and Air Between Us, it's debut album, are accurately named. The first notes from Sam Fason's guitar on opener "Starboard" hit like a blast of sea air to the face. In just seconds, you're soaring, equal parts under the sky and above the sea. It's a similar in-between where Coral Grief thrives, as they construct elaborate webs of double meanings across this tribute and eulogy to their city and community. Singer and bassist Lena Farr-Morrissey and Fason are linked by the psychic chemistry one can only unlock by playing together in bands for years. Fason's guitar is the sail to Farr-Morrissey's anchor, and here, he crafts textures thick as sheets of wind. Tying it all together-the engine in this nautical metaphor-is drummer Cam Hancock, who came highly recommended by mutual friends. His propulsive playing serves as a bridge of ideas, their final puzzle piece, a master of dynamics and transitions that shoves their songs into new territory without showing off. Together, they draw inspiration from Stereolab, Broadcast, Th' Faith Healers, and Seefeel, to name just a few, reframing that very specific strain of British cool in a uniquely Pacific Northwest way. To bring the songs to life, the trio decamped to The Unknown-a decommissioned church turned sail manufactory turned recording studio in Anacortes, WA. Working with engineer Nich Wilbur on a diet of five matchas a day, the workspace became their workshop. "We were committed to the three-piece way of doing things but wanted to make it sound as lush and as full as possible," Fason explained.