Another Sky: Last Night I Slept On The Floor - Review

Another Sky are a London four piece making waves within the music industry, and their debut album ‘Last Night I Slept On The Floor’ reinforces this, whilst it also gives a strong direction of the band. Not an easy feat for a debut album. It is a captivating listen from start to finish due to the pure sense of nostalgia provided through the heavily reverberated instruments, combined with the crisp vocals of Catrin Vincent. Vincent’s voice is relatively similar to that of Hannah Reid from London Grammar. Recently, Vincent explained: “People say I sound like a man. Maybe the means they’ll listen.” Following the release of ‘Last Night I Slept On The Floor’, she can rest assured that people are definitely listening. 

The album cover displays four semi-anonymous portraits consisting of Another Sky’s four respective band members. The portraits relay the recurring influence of the album of anxiety through anonymity. However, it also shows that Another Sky are not afraid of exploring these insecurities that manifests itself through the album, evident in the song ‘Let Us Be Broken’ in which Vincent sings: “Let us be broken. Let us be open. Let us name the cage. Grow a garden in its place.” 

‘How Long?’, the opening song of the album sets the precedent for what is to follow. The song begins with a lovely instrumental interlude, leading to a heavy breakdown and back again. Reminiscent of a classic narrative structure of equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium, each respective song tells its own story. ‘Last Night I Slept On The Floor’ allows the listener to explore a variety of emotions throughout the album. Moreover, Another Sky are not afraid to tackle social issues in their music such as police brutality, racism and the #MeToo movement as heard in the single ‘Avalanche’. Vincent sings: “When you hold them to account they’ll spit you out, just a bad taste in their mouth.”

Another Sky describe a wide range of influences from artists as varied as Tracy Chapman all the way to Four Tet. The Four Tet influence is obvious in the song ‘Life Was Coming Through The Blinds’ in which they explore the use of a lo-fi beat, heavily reverberated instrumentals and crisp vocals. Whilst the song ‘I Slept On The Floor’ has clear Bon Iver vibes. Whoever they have been influenced by, it is certainly working for them, whilst they produce their own individual sound.  

Another Sky are an incredibly talented band, they know their strengths musically, and are not afraid to showcase these talents. Meanwhile Vincent has become aware of the platform she now has and as a result is able to express social concerns through her lyrics.

- Ben Broyd

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