Explosions in the Sky built a post-rock (read: instrumental rock) reputation by skillfully employing the soft-loud dynamic. But the Austin quartet’s newest album, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, is starkly calm, failing to hit the same emotional chords that thrust the band to prominence.
Take Care is best described as even-keel. The guitar wails that come in during the opener, “Last Known Surroundings,” drone on rather than building up the excitement. “Human Qualities” stays stagnant for five minutes before finally adding a playful guitar line for color. The only track with any sense of excitement or urgency is “Trembling Hands.”
Nothing on Take Care is as captivating or epic as The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, and the album lacks the jarring and unexpected moments found on All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. EitS plays many pretty notes here, but the album is hardly a stand-out.
DOWNLOAD: “Trembling Hands”
