Explosions in the Sky – Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever (LP)

On their sophomore effort, the contradictorily titled Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever, the group has recanted on their more unexcitable tendencies, opting to infuse their work with a formerly unseen rawness and intensity. And even if it’s not a didactic analysis of what constitutes “music” (such as the Olivia Tremor Control’s Black Foliage), it certainly makes for a revelatory listen.
Depending upon your mood, the album can document good versus evil, existential insignificance versus blissful ignorance, war versus peace, or whatever other contrasting forces best suit your life at the moment. Where so many lyricists fail in exacting the perfect sentiment, Explosions in the Sky have crafted a record comprised solely of ever-changing blanks to be filled in. And though each of these tracks supposedly tells stories, one needs only draw upon their own life to understand the pathos explored. May these songs become a soundtrack to your vanity.