A Billion Searchlights

Back around 2005 the band Isis were a big deal, as were lots of bands who sounded like them, mainly characterised by long songs and pretty much no vocals. At the time I got really into a lot of that stuff. One band that were associated with Isis, but sounded absolutely nothing like them whatsoever, was 27. The vocalist, Maria, appears on an Isis song on what is probably stil regarded as their best record (Oceanic) and the bands toured together. That's how I heard 27, but as mentioned, they sound nothing like Isis. The band features a dreamy soft female vocal over a soft guitar and drums. I really fell in love with this band circa 2005, and they let me release one of their albums on vinyl because Relapse Records only put out a CD. Over the years they have been pretty quiet, but now and again they surface with some new material. And in 2021 they put out a new full length, 'A Billion Searchlights'. It came out in late July, and I finally received the hard copies last week.

The first thing to mention is the quality of these records. Thankfully the label that released this uses a good quality US pressing plant as opposed to the one that I hate that cranks out the cheap plastic. So these records all look and feel great. There are 3 colours available, and all are visually very interesting.

The first version is 'Rainbow splatter' and is out of 100 copies.

Clearly this colour is designed to match the cover art of the record, which it does really well. This record is also supposed to give a positive message of support for everyone as the last two years have been pretty tough. So the flipside label has 'Keep Going' written on it, which is a lyric from the opening song on the record.

The second colour is the 'searchlight' version. This is a pretty clever idea, I think. The label features a searchlight, which then continues into the vinyl itself via a white splotch. There are 94 copies of this particular version.

The third colour is called 'Deep Ocean Eyes'. I'm not sure I have seen this colour before exctly, but it looks fantastic.

I also got sent a 4th version, which is really just a mispress of the 'searchlight' version, where the white bit in the vinyl doesn't line up with the searchlight on the label.

There were 8 of these mispress copies, and they were stamped and numbered and given only to friends and family. I feel really lucky to have been given one of the friends & family copies, and I'm super grateful.

This record was a great surprise this year. The last full length from this band was in 2010, so this new one is kind of a big deal, and has got a lot of play from me in recent weeks. If you're looking for something a bit quiter and gentler for your cosy winter nights in, this could be the record you are looking for.