A bold first album

Released in early 2000, 26 years ago, Explosions in the Sky released their genre defining album. It wasn't until almost 5 years later, in a dorm room, that I discovered them.

I was using Kazaa to search for an Iggy Pop song I had heard in Friday Night Lights, I Wanna Be Your Dog. I can't tell you how I searched but I ended up finding "Your Hand in Mine w/Strings".

From then it was off to the races. I had to find more of their music and that's how I found "How Strange, Innocence".

When it comes to music I tie songs strongly to memories and experiences more so than any other form of Media. Where video games exist out of time for me, and the best movies grow with me as I get older music triggers an emotional synesthesia in me that I cannot avoid and yet still enjoy.

I am not willing to call "How Strange, Innocence" the best Explosions in the Sky album but it is the best example of what Explosions in the Sky is as a band. Despite being a band that makes instrumentals Explosions in the Sky is able to endow this album with a strong narrative chord that ties each song to each other. A tangible, however fragile, sense of wonder, excitement, melancholy and contentment. Reminiscent of late nights with friends talking about at a bar talking about the times you shared when childhood gave way to adolescence.

The best way to describe the way this album feels to me is the feeling you might get at a graduation party.

The album starts off slowly with their second best song of the album "A Song for our Fathers" a wistful guitar is joined by a bass and eventually symbols as the song seems to call to mind a bombastic conversation with and older relative who is old in a powerful memory. A lot of their songs feel this way like memories that haven't quite faded with time and evoke this sweet sadness. Like the last memory of a friend or of a time and place that you moved on from.

The best song of the "Snow and Lights" feels exactly like that. Most songs in this album take their time but Snow and Lights rushes into the emotion, crashing and energetic drums that back a guitar that dominates the rest of the song. Its a full minute of energy before giving way to the softer side of the song.

The rest of the songs bring similar emotions. 'Magic Hours' is the most upbeat with a simple snare in the background that feels like rushing. 'Look into the Air' and especially 'Glittering Blackness' bring the appropriate lamentation by being a little slower and cloaking itself in a dense of duty by bringing the drums forward, almost like a march, without plodding or over staying its welcome.

The longest song is "Time Stops" and its the most guitar and bass heavy on the album. It almost feels like two songs because at the mid-point, at about 5 minutes the tempo picks up and there is a key change bring a sense of unfocused resolve.

'Remember Me as a Time of Day" is gloomy and a great way to end the album. The bass and guitar blend nicely to find a way to evoke the emotion of the end of a long yet satisfying day.

Explosions In The Sky dominates the post-rock scene and for good reason. While their songs are on rotation in my life I find myself listening to 'How Strange, Innocence', no skips, more often than any other album. I think this one is both a quintessential post-rock and Explosions In The Sky album.