Teeside’s Weathership explore fear and love with their debut concept album, Splendid Beast.

By Graeme Smith

Feature photo by J.P. Riggall

A lonely, droning note sets the atmosphere of Splendid Beast. Opening track Golden Age speaks of heartache as Weathership’s melancholic, folk-infused brand of indie rock is revealed. Soul-searching verses are interspersed with lingering guitar solos in a strong opener.

In many ways, it’s a sound that’s been lost to the ages since its ’90s and ’00s heyday. There are shades of Interpol and Starsailor in Splendid Beast. Weathership are doing their own thing with it, reinventing it for 2024, and happily going against attention-deficit trends by letting each of their tracks unfold in its own time. Latest single Just A Ghost is a case in point, rich with soul-searching narrative and a swelling, memorable chorus.

We get touches of psychedelia and experimentation too. The Blue ends with a snippet of The Shipping Forecast. Through The Fog has a long, rumbling crescendo. Electrolung brings electronica to proceedings with its brooding, slow-burning arrangement.

The album is closed in a powerful fashion by the anthemic Lost At Sea, the decompressing The Swimmer and the vibrant For The Dark Is Beautiful.

Weathership’s debut beautifully balances the familiar with the unfamiliar in a collection that’s rich with emotion and ambiance. It’s an album that demands your time, and rewards you if you give it. If you love alternative rock that’s on the introspective side, you’re going to find a lot to love about it.

Splendid Beast was produced by the band and mixed by Jamie Donnelly of Up The Music Services. It’s set for release via Bear Love Records/Butterfly Effect on 15 November 2024. You can pre-order it as a digital album, on vinyl or on CD, as well as pick up related merch, via the band’s Bandcamp page.

To celebrate the release of the album, Weathership will be launching it at The Georgian Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees the same day. You can get tickets for the show here.