That thing where your album of the year drops in March. I feel like I’ve been anticipating and talking about Tsunami Sea so much that it almost has a shimmering, legendary quality to it. I’m trying to be objective about it, but I’m only once again proving that I actually can’t be casual about anything.

My Classics-rotted mind is pulling apart these songs to shreds. I see the myth of a ship’s figurehead in “Fata Morgana”, a crossing of our fingers as we embark on the journey. I see Persephone and Truth coming from Her well to shame mankind in “Perfect Soul”. In “Keep Sweet”, I see Artemesia Gentileschi’s painting Judith Beheading Holofernes. But louder than all of that, I see Spiritbox.

Is Tsunami Sea a new direction for them? Not particularly; it feels familiar but more refined. It is an incredible feat in storytelling, something I think is revolutionary in the genre they call home.

I’ve been feeling a lot of imposter syndrome over this piece, agonizing over how to do the album justice. Something about it feels very sacred. In “A Haven With Two Faces”, my stand-out track, the band pays homage to their home of Vancouver Island. It’s also the longest Spiritbox song to date, and I hope the band leans into this more. The choice of a more prog-rock inspiration, and how dragged out it sounds, really gets across the feeling of longing for home. 

Lyrically I feel like this is some of their strongest work. I’ve been unable to get over lines like “My heart corrodes itself / A vessel I can’t compel / To break open when you pull me near” in “Ride the Wave”, or “You hold your breath for someone I’ll never be” in the title track. They’ve just injected such honesty and an earnestness here that is impossible to ignore or write off.

“Keep Sweet” feels like a gut punch; it’s such a specific glimpse into the universal experience of womanhood – biding our time until we can finally strike back, getting to the place where we can “watch it bleed out with no feeling”. It hit the religiously traumatised part of me. I can definitely see why Courtney was upset that “Crystal Roses” was dropped early, it’s a pretty divisive track that I feel is a bit out of place. It also doesn’t really feel like a track that will grow on me, I’m just never into Spiritbox when they lean into electronica.

I am infatuated with the water metaphor that saturates the project. I am deathly afraid of the ocean, maybe because I often feel like I am drowning as it is, but Courtney’s delivery of this concept has just really wormed its way into my heart. I felt immensely comforted as I made my way through. The album reminds us that rock bottom isn’t a place we should build our home. If “Fata Morgana” is where we start sinking with a millstone tied to our feet, “Deep End” is where the ropes finally come undone after fighting, and we can start to make our way to the surface.

4.5/5

by Nadia Alves

Nadia Alves has been a music enthusiast since she can remember. Going to shows is her main pastime. The other is being upset when she can’t go to shows. This is her first official venture into writing about music. You can follow her on Twitter.