A rollercoaster of emotions from start to finish, Sea Girls’ debut album, Open Up Your Head, is a tale of love and heartbreak with a few catchy choruses thrown in along the way…
Since forming in 2015, Sea Girls have gone from strength to strength in the music industry. Open Up Your Head is a celebration of the band’s successes, with eight of the 14 tracks having previously been released as singles.
From the first song, Transplant, we instantaneously get a sense of what the record is about – that is, unrequited love, heartbreak and general relationship drama. However, while other artists might tackle these topics through more depressing lyrics and slower tempos, Sea Girls keep to their indie influences incredibly well with Open Up Your Head, resulting in an upbeat and enjoyable listening experience.
The next two tracks, All I Want To Hear You Say and Do You Really Wanna Know are incredibly catchy, well-written and well-performed. The instrumentals used by the boys, Henry Camamile (vocals, guitar), Rory Young (lead guitar), Andrew Noswad (bass) and Oli Khan (drums) are both reminiscent of other indie bands, yet also completely unique in their own right. Funnily enough, the lyrics of most of the songs on Open Up Your Head will indeed stay in your head long after listening to the album, however, All I Want To Hear You Say and Do You Really Wanna Know are particularly memorable.
Call Me Out was the first single released by Sea Girls back in 2017, and it also has a rightful place on their debut album. The musical talents of the band are really showcased here with fantastic drum beats from Oli Khan and an awesome guitar solo thrown in there as well. This is carried on throughout the rest of the record, with Forever in particular also having great guitar and drum segments.
If you like songs that you can easily sing along to, Open Up Your Head is a must-listen. Track eight, Weight In Gold, will have you singing “you are worth your weight in gold” to everyone you meet, which might just earn you a few more friends (or enemies). Weight In Gold has not been released as a single to accompany the album, despite it certainly having single-worthy qualities.
The catchy lyrics delivered by Sea Girls follow through to the next two tracks on the album, Ready For More and Violet. Violet is predictably a fan favourite and tells the tale of someone fighting for their relationship. The lyrics “Violet, now my mind is set, hold my cigarette because I’m not leaving here without you” portray a sense of desperation and longing, feelings which are likely to be relatable to any listener out there.
Track 13, You Over Anyone, was a completely unexpected yet very welcome addition. Being towards the end of the record, the listener may be predicting another fast and pop-ish song at this point, yet You Over Anyone is quite the opposite. Raw and emotional, this track features just vocals and a piano, and it is hard not to see the beauty in its simplicity. Where in other tracks emotions may be masked by upbeat guitars and drums, You Over Anyone offers a dramatic change in pace and is instead slow and heartfelt.
In summary, Open Up Your Head is a fantastic debut album from Sea Girls. It does not differ much from the style of the band’s previous releases, acting as a perfect culmination of their music for any new fans and also those who are returning. Some may criticise the lack of rise and fall in this record, yet, in times of a global pandemic, people will look to music for happiness and Open Up Your Head is likely to give just that.
Rating: 8/10
By Jessica Goddard
Feature Image Credit: Polydor Records