Album Review: Cold Cave - 'Oceans With No End'

For Cold Cave – the current project of former American Nightmare and Some Girls frontman Wes Eisold – borrowing heavily from the 80's is a familiar concept. On sophomore album 'Cherish the Light Years', Eisold and company delivered an undeniably catchy serving of synth-pop songs that recalled the likes of New Order and Depeche Mode while pairing them with darker lyrical, thematic and musical undertones. With new EP 'Oceans With No End', Eisold moves further into morose territory, eschewing some of the brighter moments found on 'Cherish' in favour of strong post-punk and industrial influences.

“Oceans With No End”, the first of the two tracks on the EP introduces listeners to a gloomier musical backdrop than fans are perhaps accustomed to. A sentimental opener that belies an almost-hidden sense of hopefulness, the song is wonderfully nostalgic – strong synths provide a backdrop to a reflective Eisold - “Thought of you, the first time in five years / I love my life / But you, what ever happened to you?”.

“People are Poison”, the unquestionably more menacing of the two, matches heavy industrial synths a la Nine Inch Nails and Ministry to some of Cold Cave's most nihilstic lyrical material yet. “You better die young or you'll be me or something / and then they'll say in your prime you were nothing / You were nothing” declares Eisold.

Whether it's the choice to release the EP though Jacob Bannon's Deathwish Inc. rather than usual label Matador or something else entirely, there's little denying that 'Oceans With No End' represents a step into a far bleaker environment for Cold Cave – both sonically and lyrically. The end result is two of the more intriguing tracks to come from the band that make up for some of the less interesting moments on the last album. A promising release.

1. Oceans With No End
2. People Are Poison