Many hearts were broken when, in September 2017, the Liverpool-based band Anathema declared an indefinite hiatus to their output. Since their debut in 1990, the band’s atmospheric, hypnotic, and intensely emotional music has resonated deeply with many listeners, and fans have continued hoping against all odds for a comeback. So when rumours arose that two former members were starting a new band, named Weather Systems after one of Anathema’s best-loved albums, the level of excitement and speculation was considerable. Would their debut, Ocean Without A Shore, rise triumphant from Anathema’s ashes to recreate the same beloved magic, or would it be merely a pale and disappointing imitation?
Danny Cavanagh, the leading force behind Weather Systems, makes no secret of the close links with his former band. As well as the choice of band name and some deliberate musical and lyrical references, there is a significant overlap of personnel. Danny himself was Anathema’s co-founder, alongside his brother Vincent, and on this album, he continues to write the songs and provides lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, programming, and arrangements. Fellow multi-instrumentalist Daniel Cardoso, also from Anathema, occupies the drum stool and Portuguese singer Soraia Silva replaces Lee Douglas to supply the female voice so integral to Anathema’s sound. Additional vocals are contributed by Petter Carlsen, Paul Kearns and Oliwia Krattek. The album is produced by Tony Doogan, who was also responsible for Anathemas’s final studio album, The Optimist. Most of the songs themselves are realisations of music initially intended for the next Anathema album and were demo’d by the original band. In Danny’s words:
“Ocean Without A Shore’ feels like 80% of an Anathema record we would’ve made. It’s definitely a continuation of what I was doing. It’s part of the same universe, but it’s a new story.”
There is a satisfying sense of flow throughout the album, with each track blending into the next without a break and sharing aquatic themes and imagery. The lyrics are deliberately left open to interpretation but the overwhelming sense of loss and longing implies a story of two lovers separated by the death of one partner but experiencing a mystical sense of closeness.
Synaesthesia, the album opener, is the only track never intended as an Anathema song. The longest track on the album is described by Danny as “a meditation on the nature of universal love and human consciousness”. The opening, with its irregular 11/8 time signature, immediately establishes a sense of urgency, propelled by an agitated guitar riff which underpins the first section. The chorus is more reflective, with a yearning vocal melody and delicately sparkling instrumentals that perfectly match the evocative lyrical imagery: “Love, sunlight that turns to haze. Love, an ocean without a shore”. This serenity is interrupted by one of the album’s heavier episodes, an instrumental storm featuring distorted guitars, obsessive rhythms and power chords. Tension mounts as the chorus is reprised against a crashing wave of sound that rises in pitch and intensity to almost unbearable levels and then subsides with a desolate electronic sigh. The magical coda grows from a simple three-note piano motif, which is ecstatically developed by solo electric guitar, into one of those soaring outbursts of emotion that Anathema always did so well.
The soporific murmur of rainfall forms an appropriate bridge into Do Angels Sing like Rain? Danny’s laconic vocal melody feels quite minimalist, hovering around the same three notes throughout the track, though later rising by an octave. A restlessly shifting guitar riff is joined by a 4-note synth pattern that pushes against the beat, creating a tensely hypnotic effect that matches the mood of the opening lyrics:
At the bottom of the lake
Angels underneath
Singing me to sleep”
As the vocals grow in intensity, Daniel Cardoso’s drums drive the movement inexorably forwards towards an impassioned climax. After the storm comes the calm, and we return to the bottom of the lake, soothed by a restful and tender version of the original guitar riff, with ethereal synths suggesting the angelic lullaby.
Untouchable Part 3 is where Danny really nails his Anathema colours to the mast. A self-declared sequel to Parts 1 and 2 on the parent band’s Weather Systems album, it shares their lyrical theme of love, loss and the struggle to let go. And if those Anathema tracks had you reaching for the Kleenex so will this one. Its form is simple but effective, the whole structure evolving from four wistful piano chords that transport us to a place outside of time. Danny’s heartfelt vocals introduce the poignant verse melody, while in the reprise, Soraia’s voice feels touchingly vulnerable and warmly expressive. A rapturous instrumental passage warms us up for a final, luminous chorus which glows with sumptuous vocal harmonies before fading into the distance like the dying rays of a winter sunset.
After this melodically dominated track, the main interest in Ghost in the Machine is rhythmic and textural. Cardoso’s lively percussion patterns in duet with Danny’s guitars evoke the sound of a tabla drum, creating a somewhat ethnic feel and an airy, dancelike quality. Male vocals announce the main theme, deliciously intertwined with a radiant countermelody from Soraia. Later, the roles are exchanged, with Soraia taking the main theme. In the coda, an additional layer is added in the form of a new, joyous variant of the tabla theme on electric guitar, spinning a complex web of textures before the music fades out.
Are You There? Part 2 is another Anathema sequel, this time taking its title and opening lyrics from their 2003 album A Natural Disaster. The signature guitar melody suggests a call signal reaching out into space, rising hopefully then falling in pitch and receding into the distance above a background of pulsing synths. As in Untouchable 3 the opening feels calm and timeless, transporting us to that liminal space where the borders between this world and the next become blurred, before building to an ecstatic climax with rich vocal harmonies followed by a fade-out.
Still Lake represents some of the most effective and ambitious writing on the album. Its beating heart is the opening piano figure with its complex rhythmical groupings and breathless sense of perpetual motion. This is joined later by a more sustained synth theme that sits just behind both the piano beat and the vocal melody, creating an intriguing rhythmic counterpoint. The vocal harmonies are lush and adventurous and the chorus theme hovers ambiguously between major and minor tonality. A thunderous guitar break heralds an edge-of-the-seat climax where layers of rhythm and melody combine to form a tidal flow of energy and emotion that sweeps the listener along in its wake.
Take Me With You presents an emotionally charged dialogue between the two ‘protagonists’, represented by Danny and Soraia. The track progresses in a way that is becoming familiar, beginning simply, then building slowly to an impassioned climax before fading gently.
Ocean Without A Shore is probably my favourite track on the album. The instrumental colours evoke a mystical underwater landscape, with gentle ripples and droplets glinting against a background of shimmering pulses of sound. The watery effect is enhanced by the use of a vocoder for Danny and Soraia’s vocals. The entry (at 3:00) of a faster and more rhythmical synth pattern adds both interest and urgency, leading to a particularly effective and exhilarating combination of layers, mainly derived from earlier parts of the song and intensified by a commanding performance from Daniel’s drums.
The Space Between Us references the title of an Anathema gig from 2019. It is the only song not featuring water imagery, and forms a contrast with the rest of the album. The opening choral refrain, which punctuates the entire track, suggests an African tribal chant, repeated against a serene background of sustained synths and a laid-back guitar figure. The verses are light and melodic, accompanied by soft drumming, murmuring synths and the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. Just close your eyes and imagine lying under the open sky, contemplating the distant stars and feeling at one with the universe. A tremolando guitar effect raises the emotional temperature and there is a thrilling sense of expectancy in Danny’s voice:
Make it clear
Getting closer
Getting near”.
As echoes of the tribal refrain recede into the summer night, we are left in an atmosphere of serene contemplation and the hope of a happy ending.
This is music for the heart rather than the mind. Analyse it too closely and you will notice that most tracks rely on hypnotic repetition and a gradual build-up of layers rather than on melodic variety or the development of material. Relax and let it flow through you, however, and you will find yourself moved, entranced and exhilarated.
Weather Systems is not Anathema reborn, and does not claim to be, but what Danny Cavanagh has achieved, almost singlehanded, is to keep the spirit of the band alive. This is music that connects directly with the listener through the poetic imagery of the lyrics, the expressive poignancy of the vocals and the sweeping, emotional climaxes that awaken the imagination and touch the heart.
TRACK LISTING
01. Synaesthesia (9:11)
02. Do Angels Sing Like Rain? (5:06)
03. Untouchable Part 3 (5:55)
04. Ghost In The Machine (4:53)
05. Are You There? Part 2 (5:58)
06. Still Lake (5:58)
07. Take Me With You (6:09)
08. Ocean Without A Shore (7:17)
09. The Space Between Us (6:04)
Total Time – 56:31
MUSICIANS
Daniel Cavanagh – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Programming, String Arrangements
Daniel Cardoso – Drums
~ With:
Soraia Silva – Vocals
Petter Carlsen – Vocals
Paul Kearns – Vocals
Oliwia Krattek – Vocals
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Mascot Label
Country of Origin: U.K.
Date of Release: 27th September 2024
LINKS
Weather Systems – Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | Instagram
