I'm not given to synesthesia, particularly, but this song is a crystal clear turquoise blue. The vocals! Capture perfectly that vulnerability at this pivotal moment in the protagonist's career and life. The climbing melody expresses this yearning for ... life to be something more than it has erstwhile been. The drums are the living heartbeat of the song. And the mellotronish thing, I just love that sound.

Nice driving rhythm to this one. The main guitar bit holds it down while some of the more nautical bits float in and out.

I guess this is how a mid-life crisis is (can't distinguish mid-life from the other 20- or 30-life-crises of the past , um, 60? years). But I can empathise. With the desire to suddenly change and escape. I vaguely recall I entered Uni to do marine biology and came out an arid-zone ecologist. Says something... "life keeps spilling out and thrilling in a billion different ways " is how I feel on the now rare occasions I put on mask and snorkel.

We’ll have fuzz guitar in the verses then flute and mellotron strings in the chorus - doesn’t sound great on paper but you made it work like a gem

Really enjoyed this one. The musical shift for the chorus is very cool. Digging the subtle mellotron flutes too - there's always room for those. Ooh, mellotron violins now too! That picked bass line provides a solid foundation for the track. Loved the lyrics here too. Lovely stuff!

I love how smooth and rolling this is, great driving bass, interesting chords in the chorus and the (flutes?) really lift it to something unique. And that's before I even get to the lyrics and the singing! Damn, Mike, I love this one!

Wow, I wasn't expecting those guitars! Sounds great, and the lyrics are so inventive in all the nautical references.

Ad's tag alerted me to this tune, and he's right. It does sound like STONE COLD GENIUS. Love the mellotron flutes and gentle vocal melodies drifting over the taught guitar and drums. Nice combination, I should try it sometime!

I love the contrast between the dirty guitars and the clean quality of tour voice… This is a very cool song. No reason to be suspicious!

Nothing grubby here, it’s a charming song that covers a lot of ground, from the specific to the general. The guitar drive is really good and all those synth/key touches give it that extra lift!

This is great, that warm, fuzzy, and driving guitar/bass is instantly appealing and the softness where it lifts in the chorus and synths appear is wonderfullly sweet. Love the echo and mellotron bridge bit. The idea behind the lyric is great as well, just a super charming tune all around!

I don't often compare FAWMers to FAWMers, but this is reminding me a lot of @balancelost. Must be something the Asia-Pacific water. Anyone really like how, although there's a lot of driving elements in there (bass especially), there's still a really nice gentleness to this, owing mostly to the vocal. The perfect blend of fuzz and clean!

Such a lovely rumination on life everywhere! 'when you surfed that wave were you passenger or pilot?' Definitely a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time. Loving those semi tone shifts in that mellotron-a-like accompaniment. Sounds so effortless.

This is really gorgeous. Love the melody and that lead guitar riff leading into the verses. I love the ones that come together quick, they're gems like this one. Love those two opening lines and 'its certainly familiar'. 'passanger or pilot' is another great reflection. Well worked through this theme and wonderfully performed and produced. This was one of my favourite of yours.

ooh, love it when you do fuzzy things. it must be your heart, your heart. heart art art art!!! excellent sonics (super and sub) and story (goes w/о saying) and contagious vampire weekend energy :)