Sad songs are infinitely better than happy songs and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The emotions that you feel when listening to a proper desolating ditty are much more addictive than those you get when a song makes you feel a glimmer of happiness. Acres understand this and make sure that on ‘In Sickness And Health’ you can’t even attempt to muster a smile. That’s what makes it so brilliant.
Music should captivate you so deeply that have to stop everything you are doing to really take it in. To make everything else not matter because what is entering your ear is so breathtaking. It’s incredible to say that Acres have mastered such a skill. Mixing devastating heaviness with beautifully sweeping soundscapes and angelic vocal refrains, the band’s third EP covers the full spectrum of human sadness in one bite-sized chunk. There is heartbreak at moments and there is uncertainty at others.
There is delirious anger bubbling up to the surface one-minute and engrossing desperation the next. The range of thoughts and feelings the band probe in such a short amount of time is astonishing. Where the intensity of ‘Gloom’ feels like nails down your back, the occasional soft touch of the title track is like fingers through your hair. Where ‘Overseer’ feels like the waves of the ocean carrying you away, ‘Miles Apart’ feels like you’re soaring through the clouds. It makes for a truly stunning display of musicianship and one that will incite goosebumps again and again.
Overall ‘In Sickness And Health’ is a relentless journey of the senses that will resonate with many who let it devour them. If Acres can summon this level of feeling on an EP, imagine what they can do on a full album?
4/5
‘In Sickness And Health’ by Acres is released on 24th February on Dream Atlantic.
Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
