Name: On Circles
Brand: Caspian

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

TCR03235CD

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Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music US

Limited edition

Release date

2020-01-24

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier US

Orchard

Tax rate US

Sales:8.875

UPC / Barcode

646920323524

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Total Cap

1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Caspian

Genre US

Post Rock

Label US

Triple Crown Records

Caspian is an instrumental rock band that formed in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2003. Their music has been compared to the wall of sound chaos of Mogwai and early Aereogramme. Tragically, they lost their bassist Chris Friedrich in 2013 and Joe Vickers left the band before their European Tour in 2018. However, they found a replacement in Justin Forrest who now sells their merchandise on recent tours.
In 2020, Caspian signed with Dark Operative label for vinyl reissues of their back catalogue up to the Live At Old South Church EP after facing difficulties with The Mylene Sheath label regarding the delivery of their reissues. Their current lineup consists of Philip Jamieson on guitar, tapes, and loops; Justin Forrest on drums; Calvin Joss on guitar, loops, and glockenspiel; Erin Burke-Moran on guitar; and Jani Zubkovs on bass.
With a style reminiscent of artists like '65daysofstatic', 'If These Trees Could Talk', and 'Explosions In The Sky', Caspian continues to captivate audiences with their atmospheric soundscapes and emotive performances.

Long-running cinematic rock band Caspian don't want you to call their fifth album On Circles a "redemption," a "comeback," a "rise from the ashes," or any of the other sentiments that emerge when bands return from nearly five years of silence.

Instead, this majestic collision of post-rock, metal, shoegaze, electronics, noise and ambient music is an existential meditation, an acceptance of the cyclical nature of both life and career. Produce by Will Yip (Code Orange, Defeater, Quicksand, Turnstile), On Circles marks the most organic writing and recording sessions in Caspian's 15-year history. Together for four weeklong songwriting sessions, the band (joined by propulsive new drummer Justin Forrest), opted for music gleaming with visceral impact instead of over-thought tangles, over-arching concepts and drawn-out crescendos

On Circles is an art-rock record swirling with fourth-world saxophones, dubby textures and 7/8 rhythms. The albums two epics, “Division Blues” and “Ishmael,” feature apocalyptic cello from Jo Quail (Myrkyr, Winterfylleth, Poppy Ackroyd). The wistful "Nostalgist" features vocals from Pianos Become The Teeth vocalist Kyle Durfey. For the first time, each track is meant to stand alone.

"They're just songs that we got together and wrote over the course of a year while trying to have a good time and reclaim whatever it is that’s simple about all of this," says Jamieson. "Don’t get me wrong, we kicked our own asses constantly and stayed up staring at the ceiling thinking about song structures all night for a year … but being free from the yolk of having our music relentlessly try to answer the un-answerable was emancipating and humbling."

Eschewing many of the giant, enveloping wall-of-guitar build-ups of past Caspian albums, the songs inside On Circles even take circular paths, with no beginning or ends.

"Life isn’t a series of epic crescendos, " says Jamieson. "Sometimes it's the hint of one ('Onsra'), or a sequential series of crescendos that come in waves and aren’t set up to go for an obvious jugular ('Wildblood,' 'Ishmael'), or end up in a completely different place than where you expected but pivot at the very last moment back to their beginning ('Division Blues')."

Tracklist: 1. Wildblood 2. Flowers of Light 3. Nostalgist (feat. Kyle Durfey) 4. Division Blues 5. Onsra 6. Collapser 7. Ishmael 8. Circles on Circles

On Circles

Music US

Buy Caspian - On Circles (Vinyl, CD) now from Rough Trade - independent purveyors of great music, since 1976.