Seafret - Fear of Emotion
The authors of one of the 2010s’ great indie hits get a renewed share of the spotlight.
English duo Seafret, most famous for their meteoric 2016 hit “Atlantis”, have gained significant prominence in recent years due to that song’s rise to massive online virality. And, with their new album, Fear of Emotion, releasing March 27th via Nettwerk, bringing back the same production team as they had a decade ago, seems to be aiming to combine recapturing the magic of the time with advancing them as a band.
In many ways, this album feels like a time capsule of sorts to the mid-2010s. While this does leave some aspects sounding a little dated, like things that have been made before, it also makes the record feel comfortingly dreamy. That, coupled with the catchy melodies, the soft whispiness of singer Jack Sedman’s vocals, and the poetic feel to the lyrics, which are arguably the strongest facet of the album, makes Fear of Emotion a highly enjoyable and easy listen for reminiscing and nostalgia. Fittingly, some of the best tracks on the project, such as “Love In Reverse”, “Nobody Sees Us” or “Desert Heart”, are similarly soft and gentle to Seafret’s output from past years.
However, that’s not at all to say that their ventures into more energetic sounds don’t have any merit to them. The more upbeat, instrumentally diverse production on tracks like “River Of Tears”, “Wait” or “Five More Seconds” add welcome dynamism to the project, making it more engaging and varied. Similarly, the features are also well-placed and do their part to switch things up and add extra layers to the album. The one flaw with the instrumentation, and, indeed, the overall sound of the LP, is that it sometimes sounds excessively polished, rendering certain tracks sounding a little generic.
As mentioned previously, Fear of Emotion is truly made what it is by its lyrical content. Seafret are known for writing about love and its complexities, and about difficulties on one’s life path, and this album is no exception to that, with particularly well-written lyrics on songs like the aforementioned “Nobody Sees Us”, “Cloud” or “Driftwood”. Sedman does very well crafting stories that are instantly captivating even without further context, and delivers it all in a very sincere, appealing way.
Overall, Fear of Emotion is not an album that is going to make any drastic change in the music industry. It’s a project that sticks to fairly safe sounds musically, and has production that is at times a little too clean. However, it’s also excellently written, nostalgic and delivered with genuine, compelling emotion – a solid LP worth coming back to, from a group who make a solid claim to be reinvigorated and ready to keep taking further steps forward in their career.
7.0/10
