WEATHER SYSTEMS – Ocean Without A Shore

vote
7.5

• Band:
  WEATHER SYSTEMS
• Duration: 00:56:31
• Available from: 27/09/2024
• Label:

• Music Theories Recordings

Streaming not yet available

It's been just a couple of months since, talking about Vincent Cavanagh's new EP, released as The Radicant, we wondered about the activities of Weather Systems, his brother Danny's new creation, which remained silent between a fundraiser and the publication of sporadic covers on Soundcloud. A few days later, however, we received the news of the arrival of “Ocean Without A Shore”, which concretizes the guitarist's efforts in a debut in full continuity with what was done by Anathema.
If, in fact, Vincent seems to have completely changed skin, dedicating himself to electronics and ambient, Daniel has chosen the diametrically opposite path, taking in fact much of the material that should have become the new Anathema album, and transforming it into the first chapter of Weather Systems. On the other hand, the desire to collect the legacy of his previous group is immediately evident, from the moniker, from the cover with that 'fisheye' effect, passing through titles such as “Untouchable Part 3” or “Are You There? Part 2”, which directly refer to other episodes of the band's discography.
Daniel, as an excellent multi-instrumentalist, takes care of all the instruments, with the only support of Daniel Cardoso on drums and a small group of guests for some vocal lines. Despite this, the sound of “Ocean Without A Shore” is 100% Anathema, which makes it even more evident how central Daniel’s figure was within the economy of the band.
The quality of the compositions is generally very good, with some small drops in tone, especially noticeable in some slightly redundant passages, such as “Still Lake”, played entirely on a piano loop, but also many notable peaks.
Among the second tracks, we gladly mention “Untouchable Part 3”, delicate and melancholic, with its orchestral opening at the end; “Take Me With You”, a delicate piece that seems both a declaration of love and a request for forgiveness; and also the title-track, set entirely on the vocoder, which brings to mind the wonder of “Closer”.
Also elegant and successful is the reinterpretation of “Are You There? Part 2”, which recovers the elegance of the original, but with a richer arrangement that makes it very different from the essentiality we were used to. Finally, “The Space Between Us” is very particular, whose sound reminded us of “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel, with those choirs one step away from world music. There are, it must be said, also some too many fillers, such as “Ghost In The Machine”, or the same “Do Angels Sing Like Rain?”, chosen as the first single and which, in the opinion of the writer, turns out to be one of the weakest episodes of the album.
All things considered, then, “Ocean Without A Shore” would have been a very honest successor to “The Optimist”, with all the merits and defects of what Anathema had become in the last ten-fifteen years. It all works very well even in this solo version, thanks to Daniel's undeniable writing ability and the careful choice of some collaborators (see for example Soraia, gifted with a voice and a timbre very similar to Lee Douglas's). The lack that we feel the most, it must be said, is Vincent's voice, which we continue to prefer to that, although pleasant, of his brother.
We are curious, at this point, to hear what will happen starting from the next album, when Daniel will no longer be able to count on the material already written with his former companions. Will he continue on this path, becoming in fact the true heir of Anathema's music? Or, like his brother, will he look for a different path, perhaps never taken with his old band?
One thing is certain, a world without Anathema is a decidedly grayer world and finding Daniel Cavanagh today, after all the rumors that have circulated about his physical and mental health, is something that gives us a little hope. If it is true that music is a universal cure, we hope that this return for him can be a source of rebirth, just as his songs have been for us, in moments of despair.