Searows – Death in the Business of Whaling
Portland singer-songwriter Searows returns with immersive indie-folk and haunting, lingering lyrics
Searows’ second album, Death in the Business of Whaling, pries and forces confronting emotions to surface. With the title alluding to lines from Moby Dick, Alec Duckart pieces together the divided forces of life and death, the in-between, and feelings unable to be pinpointed.
Opener Belly of the Whale envelops us into a trance, setting the tone for an album gripping at dark corners. Haunting lullabies meet lyrics of death and solitude: 'After the plummet, sinking into the grave / I'm left in the stomach at the bottom where I live'. It feels cinematic, with instruments creeping around sparse vocals. Dearly Missed begs us to solve a puzzle ending in tragedy, soundtracked by death knells of blazing guitars. Kill What You Eat similarly builds with lyrics that lash: 'If I say it's not really all that much / I'm cutting out the heart of the fish I caught'.
The Phoebe Bridgers-esque In Violet starts with siren-like drones, hinting at hope through soft banjos and love confessions. Closer Geese is a call to the void, a hopeless attempt to rescue someone lost and flailing. We aren’t given closure, only hurtling into uncharted waters.
Listen to: Belly of the Whale, Dearly Missed, Hunter