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Album Review :
 Falling Up - Your Sparkling Death Cometh

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Band: Falling Up

Title: Your Sparkling Death Cometh

Label: None-Independent Release

Release Date: June 28th 2011

Reviewer: Joshua Clark

Tracklisting:

  1. Circadian
  2. The Wonder
  3. Blue Ghost
  4. Diamnds
  5. The Light Beam Rider
  6. Oceans
  7. Mscron
  8. Vates
  9. Forms And Shapes
  10. Slow Waves

It’s pretty incredible to think of the changes Falling Up has gone through over the years leading up to their 5th album. The youthful rock energy of Crashings and Dawn Escapes launched the bands career. Captiva saw the band keeping some of those elements and fusing it with a more melodic and ambient feel. The bands last album Fangs was a total change in sound, which was loaded with keyboard, synth, and numerous electronic/ambient effects.  The band then called it quits but evidently it was not meant to be since the band has come back this year with their newest effort Your Sparkling Death Cometh.

I have followed Falling Up from the beginning, being a big fan of their albums Crashings, Dawn Escapes, and Captiva. Initially I had not been a fan of the sound change on Fangs and I kind of lost interest with any material they would release like that. While I still really like their older sound I have come to appreciate the creativity displayed on Fangs and while still not my favorite album from the band, I have come to enjoy the album.

Your Sparkling Death Cometh follows in the same vein as Fangs. The band takes the elements that worked on their last release and enhance it here. This album is filled with a lot of ambience just like before but combines it with some rock elements. The band doesn’t get anywhere near as heavy as they did in the Crashings/Dawn Escapes era . While some may miss the more standard rock sound, Falling Up has gone through a ton of growth since then and come up with a more unique sound as well. The band delivers a more mature effort by taking elements that they have used throughout their past albums and making a project that I think truly defines this band.

So as far as the sound is concerned I think Falling Up made some truly beautiful songs on this album. A lot of these tunes just grab ahold of you and take you on one extraordinary journey. The instrumental work is nothing short of amazing and I think the numerous outros give the songs more room to breathe and allow you to get swept away in the beautiful sonic ocean that Falling Up has created.

Jessy Ribordy has always delivered as far as songwriting is concerned. I have always thought he has very creative lyrics and communicates his message in a very poetic way. In some cases though this leads you to have no clue what he is talking about and the lyrical message goes way over a lot of people’s heads; the storyline of Fangs is a great example of this. Luckily the lyrics are not as confusing on this album but there are still a few moments where everything isn’t quite clear. But what is clear is the worshipful moments displayed on several songs as well as grace, love, and faith all poetically weaved into the storyline.

While the album is strong as a whole, “Oceans” is my personal favorite track.  I thought the music to this track was incredible and I connected to the lyrics very easily. I loved the line to this song “If your heart’s an ocean, then I will drown Beneath the waves, there will be love.” Other favorites of mine were the great opener “Ciradian” “Blue Ghost” and “Forms and Shapes.”

My one minor complaint is I felt the vocals had a really similar sound for a majority of the songs. I always thought Jessy had great variety with his vocals on the band’s past albums but for some reason here I didn’t think they were as varied as they have been in the past. But still I think he has a great voice and put a ton of emotion into what he is singing.

Overall: I don’t think we could have asked for a better return album from Falling Up. I know for me they took all the elements I ever liked about the band and combined them to make one stunning release. While at times I still miss that heavier sound of the band I honestly think it would have been out of place on this album if they had added in a few heavier tracks. I think all of the bands experimentation on their past four albums has finally brought them a unique sound that fits them perfectly. So if you’re a fan of Falling Up I definitely recommend picking this up as it is one of the band’s most intriguing efforts yet.