There is a calm joyousness in The Sea The Sea’s debut album Love We Are We Love that makes writing a review difficult. In fact, it makes doing pretty much anything difficult except sitting, contemplating, and smiling. I’ve paused the album long enough to write the opening, and then I’ll see what happens.
The duo takes their name from the ancient Greek writer Xenophon’s most famous book, Anabasis. Xenophon recounts the tale of a Spartan army defeated at the hands of the Persians, and the subsequent arduous and perilous retreat made by the surviving soldiers. Reaching the Greek coastal city of Trabzon in Asia Minor spurred the war-weary Spartans to shout, “The sea, the sea!” Now, movie stars get in trouble when comparing what they do to war; and if movie stars can’t do it, then accountants, lawyers, and music critics most definitely cannot compare their jobs to war. That being said, the catharsis of the Spartan soldiers is felt by most of us on many different levels and in a variety of circumstances. Whether it’s a long day at work, an illness overcome, or just the release from having thrown a good party, moments when we should be prompted to cry, “The sea, the sea!” are constantly around us. The power of Love We Are We Love isn’t found in the fact that it provides a soundtrack for our cathartic moments, but that, in a milieu that resists our need to slow down, breath, and exalt in where we are, The Sea The Sea’s debut album helps us find catharsis that is a desire and need that many of us are either unaware exists or actively suppress.
There. Now that my catharsis is out of the way, time to get to work.
The Sea The Sea is made up of Chuck E. Costa and Mira Stanley, and was formed in 2011, five years after the duo initially met. Both play multiple instruments, and supply lead and backing vocals at various points throughout Love We Are We Love. Although this is The Sea The Sea’s debut album, Chuck E. Costa and Mira Stanley mesh very well artistically. There is a comfort level that is apparent between the two that caused me, before I read their bio, to assume that the two were married; I’ve checked a couple of times to make sure that they’re not.
The predominant motif of the album is established in the opening line of the opening song “RE: Blah.” With the accompaniment of a single banjo, Chuck E. Costa sings, “There’s no such thing as having too much faith/there is only losing faith/ and why, oh why would you go to that place where you have lost your faith?” A gentle plea to live a full life and for that life to be characterized by faith and community, “RE: Blah” through the use of understated music and succinct lyrics transitions the listener from the hectic nature that dominates contemporary Western society into the musical hammock of Love We Are We Love.
The last two tracks – “Waiting” and “Ten Thousand Birds” – are for me the highlights of a beautiful record. It was while listening to these two songs that I realized that The Sea The Sea reminds me of The Innocence Mission. Both groups have the ability to distill music down to the present for the listener without losing the “otherness” of excellent art. “Waiting” is the best example on Love We Are We Love of what that means. Violins are often described as haunting, but the violins that open “Waiting” prompts a memory of my mom’s cool and gentle hand on my hot back while I drifted off into the sweaty sleep of a childhood summer nap bothered by the small inconsistencies and unfairness’s of a morning’s play. The small concerns of a young boy are not dismissed in the love that is manifest in a mother’s touch, but instead are encouraged to be faced with faith and the understanding that no one is ever truly alone. The belief that there are concepts that transcend the moment and because of those concepts specific moments matter and prepare us for what’s next is wrapped up in the gliding melody of the beautifully integrated instruments and the comforting voice of Mira Stanley.
Love We Are We Love starts strong and ends strong; other favorite tracks for me are “Guess It Was,” “Fist Full of Flowers,” and “Watertreader.” One of the strengths of The Sea The Sea and the duo’s debut album is the harmonies of Chuck E. Costa and Mira Stanley. Love We Are We Love is definitely an album built around the lyrics and the vocalists, but the instruments, which are grounded in roots music, provide a substantial foundation that allows Costa and Stanley’s voices to resonate.
The current music market is swamped with Americana/folk/roots-music singer/songwriter duos; it’s a rare day that someone doesn’t draw my attention to a group that I had previously been unfamiliar with. My belief is that with Love We Are We Love, The Sea The Sea has established themselves as one of the preeminent singer/songwriter duos making music today, and will have even more to offer us in the future. Thankfully, the duo has given us a beautiful record to enjoy while they continue to make more music.
RATING: 4/5
John Ellis writes more great things here.