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UPDATE (April 21): Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is streaming in its entirety at Explosion in the Sky’s website. You can pre-order the CD/LP or the digital download in anticipation of its April 26 release.
It’s been four years since we’ve heard anything new from Explosions in the Sky, but the perennial post-rock favorites have resurfaced with “Trembling Hands.” The first single from the Austin quartet’s forthcoming Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, (due April 26 via Temporary Residence), “Trembling Hands” is definitely a departure from past releases. Beginning with a heavily reverbed guitar riff, it rushes out of the gates with heavy, propulsive drumming, and looped, staccato vocals (a first for the band) oh-oh-oh-ing. Moments later, the familiar, frenzied tremolo picking lead guitar joins the mix, rising triumphantly. “Trembling Hands” is still unmistakably Explosions in the Sky – with intertwining guitars gloriously ringing out above the chaotic, militaristic drumming – but gone are the delicate, twinkly guitars of The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place, or the loud/quiet/loud climaxes central to all of their previous work. Instead, “Trembling Hands” is relentless from the get-go, only quieting for a seconds-long bridge before erupting once more. Clocking in at only 3:31, the song is a thunderous lesson in concision from a band known for routinely exceeding the eight-minute mark. It’s certainly a new approach for the band, but is “Trembling Hands” indicative of the overall tone of Take Care? My guess is no – there will only be six songs on the upcoming album, and if they’re all as succinct as “Trembling Hands,” we can only expect about twenty minutes of new material from the band. I’d say this is incredibly infeasible, given that previous releases have generally clocked in around 45 minutes or so. I’m guessing this song – positioned third in the tracklist – will be a sort of mid-album rallying cry. Whatever the case may be, Explosions in the Sky have never let me down, and Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is one of my most anticipated new releases.
-Mitch Gustafson, March 14, 2011
