Topshelf US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Subsonic Eye are enthralled by nature. On their 2021 album, Nature of Things, the Singaporean five-piece explored the tolls of human indulgence through raw tonality and zippy jangle pop, poignantly celebrating the spirits of a natural world fast disappearing. But on their fourth full-length All Around You, Subsonic Eye expand this relationship to nature with a renewed appreciation for its coexistence with urban cities. The hectic character of urban life refracts through snappy, invigorating hooks, prisms of entrancing tone layered with singer Nur Wahidah's restless, velvety lilt. All Around You's lead track 'Yearning' unravels the band's religious dedication to the idea that nature is all around us, that we are whole with it. Sung over a nimble guitar melody and tension-building rhythm, 'dunk my head into waters/wake me up fully new now' arrives in direct reference to Wahidah's newfound perspective that we over indulgent humans can still find a harmonious balance with nature. The ten songs that comprise All Around You also comprise a space to sit with the complex feelings inspired by this intense world we inhabit. Rather than succumb to doom, Subsonic Eye relish the opportunity to meditate on these uncomfortable emotions to find their way to the ultimate realisation that beauty is all around us.