Sea Power – Everything Was Forever review

On the face of it – in fact, it’s absolutely so – over the last 20 years Sea Power have been a distinct cultural asset to this island. Whether through gigs around the globe, exporting their complicated but heartfelt music all corners of it or by simply making a living whilst outside the mainstream, the now sextet should be regarded as a national treasure.

And yet they found themselves recently on the dreamed up frontier of a dreamed up conflict, all for having removed a word from their name which they felt now has negative connotations. As do most storms however, it passed without any long term damage. Everything Was Forever is their first album since the faux-controversy and is a love letter to the things on this island that actually matter, along with a warning that we need to respect it too, as told on the surging Green Goddess.

Of far more influence on it than some mean tweets were the recent deaths of Yan and Neil Wilkinson’s parents, a memory of their lives celebrated on Lakeland Echo and the anthemic Two Fingers, whilst anger and fatalism surfaces on Folly, a scathing indictment of those who hear and see no evil but are very happy to speak it. Closing with the graceful dream pop of We Only Want To Make You Happy, it’s clear that Everything Was Forever is a dignified peace bomb, the sort of gift we should be giving to the world, were we serious about it caring about us ever again.

You can read a full review here.