Connecting with your inner child is a piece of advice that has resonated with the pop culture zeitgeist for quite a while now. A refuge to many and cliché-bound to some, its relevancy regardless is becoming much more apparent as ever-increasing social turmoils are seemingly inescapable at this point. Rügen-based five-piece Coal & Crayon reflect upon this on their latest single “Ember”, an endearing atmospheric prog cut which Everything Is Noise is delighted to premiere today.
Conceptualizing the track, the band simply looked no further than child whimsy perceived through the eyes of a parent to tackle such a subject:
‘…The lyrics capture the stirring reflections of a parent in today’s world. Even as anxiety about the future shapes daily life, the gestures and touch of one’s own children inspire the courage to remain positive and draw strength from that spirit—the strength to do whatever it takes to help shape the future.’
The sense of adventure is always readily available to tap into for a child, and “Ember” does a great job in capturing that feeling with its soaring songwriting that is in equal parts nostalgic, dynamic, and exciting. It definitely helps that the song scratches an itch I’ve had for the longest time – alternative rock-tinged prog a la Karnivool, Rishloo, and Dead Letter Circus will forever be an easy sell for me, and this is no different here. The brightness of the instrumentation pop off instantly, seamlessly weaving through both contemplative and downright heavy, almost post metal-like elements and anchored by a poppy song structure that lays out plenty of musical hooks with ease. It’s a song that has a drive that also takes time for you to appreciate its sonic minutiae – sort of like stumbling upon somewhere completely novel, waiting to be wandered.
The music video for “Ember” furthers this idea of discovery as it protagonizes an aspiring space cadet commencing a journey into the unknown. I like how the video alternates between shots of the boy trekking across the wild in a spacesuit, and scenes of an astronaut engaging in space travel and unexpectedly crashing into uncharted territory. Because, although it can be argued that the latter is merely a fabrication of the boy dreaming, it still highlights the potential risks of the unfamiliar and unprecedented, and how, regardless of that, he braves through these untamed landscapes with a smile and with an openness that can certainly serve as a bit of motivation for all of us in our individual endeavors.
“Ember” serves as a teaser for Coal & Crayon‘s upcoming fourth full-length album slated for release on October of this year through their record label Teilchensturm. A self-titled effort, the North German outfit embark a new chapter with two new members and, with that, a new sonic concept that materializes their namesake to its fullest extent, where the Coal ‘embodies the band’s dark, aggressive outbursts‘ and the Crayon showcases ‘the quintet’s atmospheric, melancholic depth‘. To stay up to date with any future updates on this album, do give their official website, Instagram, and Facebook pages a follow.
