A Beautifully Inventive Rock Record from The Earth & All Within
A new album release from The Earth & All Within delivers such a massively impactful, vast, cinematic, and beautifully constructed pop-punk and pop-rock set of songs that brings in some different elements from progressive to math rock at times. The whole thing has such character built into it that you can't turn away because you're intrigued by the fact that this is a record that takes a pop punk and rock approach, but brings in elements and instruments like a violin, for one.
All this, along with harmonious vocals that tell stories and reel you with lyrics, beautiful songwriting styles that convey a unique sort of warmth, and loads of surprises around the corners.
The self-titled album starts with a track called "The Earth", and this piece of music is meant to introduce you to the record.
The track does an outstanding job of doing exactly that as it breeds those heavier pop rock and punk sounds along with this gorgeous violin, and everything just starts shredding and becoming more immense, intense, and robust.
The song is basically saying, 'hey, buckle in' because there's going to be this graceful edginess happening throughout the record. Even though the first song is instrumental, it does showcase some of the most amazing staples that the record itself boasts.
Songs like "Once & Twice" really blow me away because they deliver such gorgeous melodies and almost haunting tonality that all come together and wrap themselves around you to keep you where they want to.
This is a record that breeds bowed stringed instruments (cello, violin, etc), and an outstanding rock backbone.
I'm not saying it's reinventing the wheel, but it is bringing this amazing texture to the music, which has a way of pushing emotional boundaries further, so the songs have more impact and feel like there are more layers to soak in, which is true.
The record has many layers to it, both emotionally and lyrically, as well as in terms of songwriting and texture.
This is an album that you should be listening to from start to finish. Listening to one or two tracks again may give you a kind of just or idea of what the album will hold, but it will not give you the full spectrum of what the whole album offers.
This is important because this record has a connectivity between certain songs that almost feels like a concept album of sorts.
What really hit me hard about a lot of the stuff was the energy. The energy is super balanced, but at the points where things are big climactic, they hit wonderfully.
The intensity comes in waves throughout the LP and this is just another reason why you should be listening to the full record.
This is an escape. It pulls you away from wherever you want, whatever you're doing, and it puts you in a completely different place for a little chunk of time, which is kind of a beautiful thing.
Now, the deeper into the record you go, the more you hear different rock approaches as well. It's not all pop rock or pop-punk. It's alternative rock, and more.
Tracks like "Glitch" give off a sort of mid to late 90s grunge feel, and it sounds like the kind of song you would hear on the radio constantly.
The guitars have a different kind of tonality to them, and it just goes to show you that throughout this record, whatever style they want to do, they can pull it off.
They're also really showcasing their influences as a band.
You can hear all the alternative and '90s rock in there, along with the punk and the pop, a little bit of metal here and there, but all in all, what makes this record so different is the simple fact that it features a string quartet.
The record was put together by guitarist and songwriter Jim Ellis, along with the Philadelphia String Quartet and Mason Ingling on the drums.
So you can see there was a lot of attention to detail paid during the creation of this record.
From the tones of the instruments to the arrangements, compositions, overall mix, and soundscape, everything was detailed with an absolute love for the craft.
This was a gorgeous record that displayed such a brilliant aesthetic. One that you don't hear often, so when you do hear it, it feels refreshing and almost strangely rejuvenating.
I definitely fell head over heels for this album, and again, I suggest you listen to the whole record all at once.
You can really take in everything it offers this way.
Dive into this and see what it does for you.