Some Velvet Morning’s New Album Rough Seas is a Joyous Experience
“It’s time to turn up the heat/Now we’re back on our feet/Who knows how high we could reach/Together/We’re at the foot of a hill/There’s a future to build/This time we know what to do/It’s good to see you/It’s so good to see you” sings London based Some Velvet Morning’s lead singer Desmond Lambert on “Good to See You” off their new album Rough Seas. Recorded during lockdown in 2020, Rough Seas, with its powerful anthems and positive message is poised to support the pandemic recovery charge. “Good to See You” is a rousing arena rock stomper of a track that could easily serve as a post-COVID anthem as things slowly creep back to normal in both the UK and the US. “Good to See You” is just one moment on an album that gives the struggle that the past year has been its due, but more often celebrates the recovery of our collective societal, communal, mental, and emotional health. That’s some pretty heavy weight for a new album to carry. One might say it’s akin to the weight of the world. Rough Seas is up to the challenge though, and has the power to sustain its listeners through the recovery and beyond.
A self described “power trio” composed of aforementioned singer Desmond Lambert, bassist Gavin Lambert, and drummer Rob Flanagan, Some Velvet Morning just embarked upon its second decade of writing, recording, and playing music both live and in the studio. Rough Seas is their fourth proper album of material, but it’s their first to incorporate obvious blues rhythms and beats. Mix in some acoustic guitar and harmonica and songs like the title track “Rough Seas” end up pushing SVM’s sound into exciting new territory. These somber blues elements add a sense of gravitas that the events of the last year warrant as subject matter. Like the album’s overall theme though, the last third of “Rough Seas” bursts into a joyously ascending rock eruption of guitar, drum, and bass that raises the listener above whatever blues they might have been revisiting during the song’s first movements. It’s the second most powerful moment of musical ascent on the album and rivals the transcendent moment that “Good to See You” is.
A slightly more atmospheric, yet no less powerful, moment is conjured by the band on the track “Love Begins.” Much more of a ballad than a rocker, it nonetheless entrances the listener and serves to lift their spirit as Desmond sings about “music and wonder,” “stars in the sky” and “When heaven opens and the angels step outside.” The analogy is an obvious one, but that makes it no less powerful. Again, the celebration of the (re)beginning of love, life, and simply being outside is a notion that we all can, and all should be, experiencing soon around the world.
Rough Seas is filled with moments like these. Existing somewhere between the somber and the celebratory, with the emphasis more on the celebratory, Some Velvet Morning’s gift of hope and rebirth to the post-pandemic world is the type of album that isn’t simply listened to, it’s experienced. And it’s an experience you’ll enjoy reliving each time you hear it.
