Cave of Swimmers – Aurora (BroomTune Records, 23 February 2021)

Good afternoon!

As we find ourselves nearing the end of the fourth month of 2021, I’m continuing to tirelessly put in the effort to get myself caught up on current and recent new releases… in case anyone was curious, today I’ve just dipped below 100 unread messages in my inbox for the first time all year (down from somewhere around 2000 just a few weeks ago)!

Anyway, one thing that jumped out at me as a very pleasant surprise: I’ve learned that one of my absolute favorite new discoveries of the past decade, Venezuelan-Floridian duo Cave of Swimmers, has put out a new album! Like two months ago!

I have to say, I’m very thankful to have received notification of this release in my mailbox — because otherwise I might never have heard about it. I mentioned it years ago when I wrote about the band’s first two releases (each a 4-song EP), and it’s still true today: these guys are criminally under-recognized, given that every single piece of music they’ve ever released has been — to use a technical term from the industry — a banger.

Both of those earlier releases ended up on my list of their respective years’ top albums, and I don’t care what else comes out in 2021, I can tell you right now that Aurora will be hitting the list again when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

Running in excess of 32 minutes and encompassing seven tracks, this technically counts as the group’s first full-length. It begins with a minute or so of introductory guitar ambiance, followed by a somewhat reworked and slightly abridged version of “The Sun,” previously released as a 7″ single back in 2017; the album then concludes with a complete reimagining of the title track from their 2014 self-titled EP. In between are four brand-new songs, from which it would be quite a difficult task to pinpoint any particular highlights on which to focus.

Each track is filled with the band’s signatures: epic, melodic singing; thrashy, groovy guitar riffs; bombastic drumming; occasional added texture and flavor from synths; and all this is often punctuated by Latin-inspired percussion and/or guitar parts. C of S have compiled a few videos by which intrigued listeners may sample some of the record’s offerings (see below), but I’ll reiterate that ALL of these tracks are catchy enough to be earwig-inducing singles.

Stream or download Aurora right here.
 

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http://caveofswimmers.bandcamp.com
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http://broomtune.com