"I can't wait to go / grey."
I have the new / old Transatlanticism demos in my earholes right now, you guys, and I am seriously freaking out. The short version is that they are fucking incredible: "Sound of Settling" >> "Tiny Vessels" will pull your heartstrings and finish you off with a one-two punch of feels; "Passenger Seat" puts you right in the room with Ben and the piano. Although prone to hyperbole, I mean it without exaggeration when I say that these tracks are downright stunning.
Listening to Transatlanticism is always an all-encompassing experience, and the demos take it a step further: I feel like I'm holding a perfectly preserved time capsule, a glimpse into the as-is idea-brains of the musicians behind one of, for me at least, the most seminal albums of the early 00s. Reverse-equivalent to my recent obsession with the Wrens' deconstructed cover of "They'll Need A Crane" by TMBG, it's a preconstruction snapshot of what these songs were about to become, and it gives a beautiful, perhaps priceless, insight into the band's creative process.
