Surroundings Return With 'Chronesthesia'

Surroundings do what they do best on 'Chronesthesia'.

For years now, Perth's Surroundings have nailed a certain musical combo. Their music plays host to these pristine, swaying, melodic soundscapes, whilst simultaneously offering heavier rhythms, djenty riffs, and pitched, emotionally-charged screams rising up amongst the atmospheric fray. And I'll be damned if it's not an effective formula! You can see this all over their 2014 LP, 'Of Bane, Burden & Change', their string of singles over the last three or so years - 'Elizabeth', 'Jane', and 2017's masterful 'Paper Cranes' (perhaps their greatest creation yet, one that I love dearly)  - and it's also clearly evident in 'Chronesthesia'. Quite simply, this is just classic Surroundings - getting right to the core meat of their songwriting - but the Western Australian act excel at this sound more than most other international and Australian acts do, so I have no problem backing it.

'Chronesthesia' is titled after the psychology school of thought for "mental time travel"; of memory battling foresight, of knowledge versus experience, and of how our recollections do and don't meet up with the actual reality of the past. (It's also the name of a well-received 2016 indie film, but hey, whatever works). This topic of time as a nebulous idea is also where this new Surroundings song focuses its sights on too: "Time slowly takes a hold and I'll take this all to heart". While the track doesn't get that lyrically convoluted nor that thematically deep with this idea of "mental time travel", it does contain the same level of passion and heart that you'd expect from the Aussie band. And when it's all wrapped up in their polished melodic-hardcore packaging, the end result is mighty fine.

Fingers crossed that a new Surroundings record is on the cards for 2019. Don't forget this one anytime soon, though: