“Bake gods into rituals and pray to your clay martyrs.“
Semaphore are a unit who have perhaps flown under the radar over recent years. Debuting in 2016, with their full release, All Too Robot, coming the year after, they have released a string of steady projects delivering their melancholic sound. This now takes them to their first release in three years, and perhaps their most important, I Need A Reason To Stay.
There is an angst that Semaphore jump into with both feet from the get-go; the brooding atmosphere that the low-tuned guitars usher in on “No One” is a signal flare of what is to come. Instrumentally there is an encompassing sound that is, unfortunately, somewhat immediately undermined by its lyrical content. “No one’s listening, no one seems to care, no one will ever miss one because no one is aware,” laments the opener. While there is an attempt to be confessional here, it sticks in the craw as fairly juvenile.
I Need A Reason To Stay does drop in some delights in its opening moments with “Porcelain“, as reverbed clean guitars tickle the ear and lead into emotion-filled riffs that fill the track. The riff that sits on the verses is wonderful, with drum fills on the chorus adding an extra level of energy. It distinguishes itself further as the only track which offers up harsh vocals, before breaking out into a free-for-all of guitar riffs and slamming grooves. The respectively mature and daring “Porcelain” is a peak that I Need A Reason To Stay unfortunately fails to match across its duration.
With midpoint tracks “Fading (I Need a Reason to Stay)” and amusingly-translated “01000110“, Semaphore continue to set out a solid performance, yet the the angsty emo lyrics ride a fine line that hits and misses from track to track. As the latter sings “Please don’t kill me” on its main vocal hook before “I keep, keep, running away”, it is too easy to shrug off. On the other side of this, there are rhythmical moments that dance with its riffs yet do it in the shadow of its worse moments, leaving them feeling wasted.
As “Nothing” brings in the penultimate moments of I Need A Reason To Stay, its statement of “I feel nothing” leading into “I know nothing about you” fails to offer up anything that sparks an emotive reaction. Especially in an age where many are searching for something deeper than the surface, this sort of lyricism falls flat.
This is brushed aside with closer “What a Way“, which shows off some juicy kicks and fill work. Everything sits nicely here, even if it doesn’t push any boundaries. The near-seven-minute closer does shift the mind away from some of I Need A Reason To Stay earlier frailties, yet they are difficult to ignore on further reflection. While there is a solid record here, its shortcomings prevent it from becoming the great record it should be, leaving a torn feeling on departing.
6/10
I Need A Reason To Stay is out March 24th via self-release, and can be pre-ordered here.