Passion Pit’s newest album release is entitled Tremendous Sea of Love. While the songs play a role in its release, the main member of the band, Michael Angelakos, released the tracks as a way to communicate a message above just good-sounding music.
The album starts out with a short song, a little longer than a minute, called “Moonbeam,” which has no lyrics but features the familiar Passion Pit style sound. It is perhaps a good introduction to the album, which is rather uneven but full of artistic statements.
The first song is followed by the longest song of the album, “Somewhere Up There,” which also begins with very interesting sounds. It is unfortunate that this song happens to be the longest. It seems to drag on a bit with a high pitched, energetic singing voice and before going into slow moving clicks and gaps of silence. One would really have to be into the style of Passion Pit to enjoy this song, which goes for most of the tracks on the album.
“Sleepyhead” (2009) is perhaps the best representation of one of the band’s songs that reached a large audience while still retaining some features of the unique sound that Passion Pit has. “Sleepyhead” was known to be a successful song that brought new listeners to become more familiar with the music style that Passion Pit has. While the songs on Tremendous Sea of Love are definitely more faithful to the band’s uncommon sound, it is likely that many of the tracks on this album will not go much further than the ears of listeners truly passionate for Passion Pit.
Much of the album is more sounds and music than actual words. Perhaps it would be a good collection to fall asleep to if you want to be calmed and maybe even a little creeped out before bed. The title track “Tremendous Sea of Love” is considerably the most calming song on the album, and one listening to it might find themselves on the top of a mountain overlooking a foggy lake, channeling their inner, meditative state. On the other end of the spectrum, “I’m Perfect” is likely the most “indie pop” style song on the album.
Perhaps the best way to describe the album would be that it all kind of sounds the same at first, yet every song is different and original when you really listen to it. While none of the songs particularly stand out as the next big hit, one can appreciate the meaning behind the album. The artist, Angelakos, mentioned in an open letter released after the album that each song was quickly written or rendered the night before it was uploaded. This meant that none of the songs were “perfect,” but they were honest. Angelakos desired to speak out to the idea that because we are always trying to present perfect versions of ourselves, we sometimes miss the point of living.
While the title Tremendous Sea of Love actually came from a quote from our President, Angelakos is not making a particular political statement with the choice of title, but rather hoping that people will be who they are and not get caught up in all that is happening today.
Instead of releasing an “album,” Angelakos’ has referred to it as a project. Because it is less about money, a lot of copies have been given out for free, including giving fans free downloads if they shared tweets about psychiatric disorders and mental illnesses. He hopes that in addition to sharing his music, his messages will also be shared.
