Sea Girls – Open Up Your Head

A crowd-pleasing indie debut album...

Each song from Sea Girls feel so intimately familiar already that you’d be surprised to learn ‘Open Up Your Head’ is their debut album. With six of the fourteen songs already in the public domain, the LP tips its hat to familiarity whilst still creating a whirlwind of excitement from fans.

Having already sold out their 2021 tour – coronavirus, begone! – they’ve tapped into the nation’s obsession with indie guitar bands beautifully, and whilst influences of your indie greats are undeniably present, think Messrs Turner and Flowers, the band are not simply regurgitating the same-old tricks. Their dark take on love and romance oozes into their (Henry Camamile and Rory Young) songwriting. They “don’t buy all the love and flowers stuff” – and it shows.

We’re traversed through peaks and troughs of the writing pair’s experiences. And never ones to avoid discussing how music benefits their mental health and how it has allowed them to find purpose in the worst of times, ‘Open Your Head Up’ is a suitably raw debut release for the band. Whilst the title track didn’t make the cut, the song that saw Camamile attempted to explore his emotions towards his head injury, the honesty that he took on in his songwriting remains.

With newest single ‘Forever’ being the soundtrack to one of Henry’s band highlights – and a fan favourite, even prior to release – it feels only right that it come out just prior to the album. One of the first times the band played the track, Henry recalls “singing the chorus standing on a speaker stack just thinking in that moment: we’re in the best band in the world”. And with the feverish crowds Sea Girls summon, who can genuinely be surprised?

8/10

Words: Megan Walder

– – –

– – –

Join us on the ad-free creative social network Vero, as we get under the skin of global cultural happenings. Follow Clash Magazine as we skip merrily between clubs, concerts, interviews and photo shoots. Get backstage sneak peeks, exclusive content and access to Clash Live events and a true view into our world as the fun and games unfold.

 

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.