This one I’d queued up a few days ago. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get something out of the song but apparently I did. A bit more descriptive of how the song proceeds which is not quite what I thought I would do, but I did and I think it mostly works. There’s an idea of the song without giving everything away which I think is a good thing. However, I feel I should’ve gone more into what the percussion was doing.

Pelican’s “An Inch Above Sand” is from “What We All Come To Need“.

I hope you enjoy.

—

Silence before something almost peaceful drones in. A slight pause and a melody rolls in on a steady groove. Sounds seem to move downward before reaching upward, cycling, trying to rise higher and higher.

A meanness comes in; percussion punches a little harder whilst the guitars and bass strike a little more. There’s a bit more menace, then a flourish and the main melody returns. However, it does not last and soon a return to that meanness and a seeming stress and pressure comes forward.

Suddenly a bit of space: The guitar and bass is less full and driven; the percussion keeps a steady and simplified beat. Sounds elongate before pausing briefly. A little noodling and riffing away returns, seemingly as a reflection of the first melody. It seems twisted and harsh and shifts into the pressured section briefly.

Something else crawls forward and a sinking continues, revealing more of a sense of fading, of disappearing, of being stuck. Once more that pressured section returns, this time with more guitar action, more seemingly reaching out and not quite getting there, but before a conclusion is found the beat stops and the other instruments stretch out and fade away into a noise as the song ends.