What Trade Wind is (and isn’t) is easy to quantify. Trade Wind may be a side project, but it’s not your ordinary one – there are no phoned-in performances here. What Trade Wind is, is emotional release, poetry in motion, and triumphing in dark times. It’s a project that easily stands on its own, outside of the members’ respective bands (Stick To Your Guns, Stray From The Path, and ex-members of Structures). And it sounds like most of your favorite bands put together – but is a unique entity, to be sure.
More than just a mere side project, Trade Wind’s debut full-length You Make Everything Disappear is a swirling, atmospheric alternative rock album that jumps into some truly dark places, exploring what appears to be the fall of a broken relationship. The refrain of “I hope I don’t wake up” in the title track echoes that quite effectively.
The sound Trade Wind (which features members of Stick To Your Guns, Stray From the Path, and Structures) reaches for is quite an intriguing one to say the least. The Thrice, Deftones, Quicksand, and Failure influences are fairly obvious here (seriously, the opening to “Lowest Form” sounds like something off Fantastic Planet), but even more than that, the band avoids both copying their influences/ever coming across as too sappy. This is powerful, effective rock music delivered with passion and honesty.
The really great thing about the record is that it gets lighter and more moody with each passing song. “Grey Light” is an obvious highlight. It’s slightly jarring to hear vocalist Jesse Barnett singing about lost love instead of the usual self-empowerment/world issues themes he explores in Stick To Your Guns, but it’s no less effective or intriguing.
You Make Everything Disappear is a disarming masterpiece that you absolutely need in your ears. The only real complaint here is that it’s only 8 songs long…and that’ll likely just whet your appetite for more. The band is also touring for a little while right now, so catch them on the road for the last week of their US run.
