“Parachute” - The Sea The Sea | Review

Smooth, intricate harmonies weave back and forth to form an unmistakable and magnetic sound... Indie Folk / Pop Duo The Sea The Sea's first single from their forthcoming album.

Something beautiful and delicate is needed sometimes. This song feels like a complete breath of fresh air and calm. Everything about this song calls for a quiet moment for reflection which is what truly drew me to this track. Find songs like this that truly make you pause and acknowledge the need to slow down and take a step back are rare and deserve to be treasured. Just the name of the song alone brings you back to simpler times. According to The Sea the Sea: “It feels fitting that “Parachute” is the first song we’ll be sharing from our new album Stumbling Home … not just because it was the first song born of this batch of songs, but it also grew out of a sort of meditation on the stillness within chaos, which feels appropriate for the pandemic conditions we all find ourselves in now. There was an article I (Mira) read that connected me with the image of being under one of those parachutes that you play with when you’re a kid, and what it feels like to be in that moment when you’re underneath, everyone is running around, you’re trying to figure out where to go, and then suddenly there can be this moment that almost feels like its happening in slow motion where all else is suspended, and there’s calm and maybe even something really beautiful about the colors, the light. And I closed my eyes and felt like that was the space that I needed. I was having a day where I was feeling overwhelmed, and I just needed that pause, that breath. And really it was one of those times that the song just sort of appeared. And I felt so much better as I kept playing it. And I liked the way it also sort of felt like drifting through the air in a different kind of parachute, looking down at the world below you—that epic feeling of perspective that also feels like a quiet thing. And so I played it for Chuck and he said: “let’s record that right now”. So we did, and just immediately heard an arrangement for it in a way that we’d never heard an arrangement for something. So we wanted to take a snapshot of that song in that moment. That’s why you hear the open window, the birds, the cars passing by, the squeaky floorboard. It all felt right and true to the moment and intention of the song in a way that’s kept it essentially the same since that day. And I think the recording/arranging experience of that song opened the door in the way we needed to start thinking ‘hey, maybe there is something to this process of recording in our own space that will unlock something new in our work’ - and I think that’s exactly what it did.” THE SEA THE SEA (Chuck E. and Mira Costa) is an Upstate New York-based indie folk-pop duo-band featuring what Huffington Post calls, “Two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this or any other year.” Their 2014 debut release, Love We Are We Love, received praise from NPR, American Songwriter, and No Depression, among others, gathering over 15 million streams on Spotify. The animated video for their song "Waiting" sparked viral interest including Buzzfeed, Pitchfork, and inclusion at the international TED 2015 conference. Mountain Stage host Larry Groce calls them "ready to take their place among the best young male/female duos now performing." Their 2016 release, the six-song EP In the Altogether, earned features by Apple Music including "Best of the Week" and "A-List Singer/Songwriter." Recently, Paste Music / Daytrotter described the band as "defined by their infallible vocal harmonies and their unconventional song arrangements. The Sea The Sea is a pop band only in their melodic infectiousness—otherwise, they are at their best when subverting conventions." Their name, The Sea The Sea, is borrowed from the ancient Greek soldiers’ cry of joy when returning home from battle. The Sea The Sea’s smooth, intricate harmonies weave back and forth to form an unmistakable and magnetic sound, reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel or, more recently, The Lone Bellow and The Milk Carton Kids. Socials: Facebook: Facebook.com/theseatheseamusic Instagram: Instagram.com/_theseathesea Twitter: Twitter.com/_theseathesea YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSeaTheSeaMusic Website: www.theseathesea.com

Review by Hannah Schneider