Ships In The Night - Myriologues

Like a sad dream that offers you comfort near the end yet leaves you in tears as as your sullen eyes open to reality, Ships In The Night is a chillingly dark electronic project from out of Charlottesville, Virginia headed by Alethea Leventhal. She belongs to an ever expanding group of musicians who are being labeled under the dream pop, dark pop, goth pop, or whatever pop you would like. The point being that this is not your standard radio chatter that flits  with the rest of the monotonous radio play. Leventhal's celestial voice made me float in ethereal clouds as her emotions breathed life into myself and weaved aura to her will. 

As far as I can tell Ships in the Night started her career in 2015 when her self-titled, debut EP released in August. The five track release garnered some well received fan fare, and even got a hand-sewn physical edition. 2016 saw her release a split with Jaguardini titled Wire & Light wherein both artists contributed four tracks to the EP to support the Wire & Light Summer 2016 tour. Both those releases and every single little detail in between has led to the release of her full length album Myriologues. 

As defined by Ships In The Night via Bandcamp, Myriologues means, "An improvised funeral song, composed and sung by a woman on the death of a friend." Before I even knew the definition to the album, it felt as if Leventhal was ripping her heart out and putting it on display for everyone to see. This is not an act of vulnerability, but rather an act of courage as one young soul confronts troubling circumstances that everyone has to face at one point in their life or another. It is no wonder that it is easy to subscribe to the human element within Myriologues - anyone with a soul will understand the investment Leventhal has created. Multiple tears, heartbreak, and a great deal of emotional struggle all came together to bring Myriologues to life and when an artist goes through that to express themselves I can only sit here and give them my utmost respect. 

The soothing synth pulses deeply rumbled at my core from the start of the album with 'Final Hours'. I turned my lights off and closed my eyes as nothing separated me from my headphones throughout the duration of this album and I felt as if I were floating in the clouds above. Leventhal's gentle voice kept me afloat and each track thereafter took me on their own separate journey.

Though this album does contain a fair amount of sadness wrapped up in one, it also serves as an antidepressant as it's a way to move on and come to terms with the negative in life. That being said, almost every single track on the album is not a dance tune or anywhere near close to it; these are melancholy songs whose darkened synths reminisce a distraught and lost heart. 

My two favorite tracks on the album come in the form of 'Deathless' and 'Dark Places'. 'Deathless' came right after the first song 'Final Hours', and it was 'Deathless' that led me into the rest of the album. I was swept away by gloomy beats and the soft rapping of percussion all packaged along with the slightly echoing vocals of Leventhal. 'Dark Places' holds a special place in my heart because it has quite a different appeal than the rest of the songs. It still sticks within Ships in the Night's realm of somber sounding pop music, but it also had an uppity dance approach to it. The rolling electronics and beat does not make it a dance floor hammer, but it will make your local goth get off their ass and move along with the beat. 

Ships In The Night is the type of band that profoundly confuses myself between extreme moments of mourning and rapture. Wherein one moment I feel the need to grab a box of tissues and wipe away coming on tears, I find myself in a delighted state of mind. But I believe this is the ideal of what Ships In The Night's Myriologues. Whatever the case, Leventhal has created a beautiful masterpiece exposing a delicate side of life that not many are willing to explore in a fantastic Gothic and dream pop bending manner. Utmost praise and respect unto her; Ships In The Night has gained a new fan today with many more hopefully to come. 
May 25 2017