Sea Girls – ‘Open Up Your Head’

After three years of building a name for themselves on festival bills and headline shows across Europe, the debut album from indie-rock four-piece Sea Girls’ has been a long time coming.

‘Open Up Your Head’ (which, strangely, doesn’t include the 2019 track of the same name) is made up of a massive 14 tracks, seven of which we’ve been listening to as far back as 2017. While all of these tracks also have a place on earlier EPs, you’ll somehow find yourself struggling to be disappointed with this fact, as the remaining seven tie everything together to tell one cohesive story that until now has been left untold.

You can’t think of Sea Girls without thinking of summer, and in fact the moment you hit play on this record, you’ll feel the sun beating down just that little bit harder on your face, warming you from the inside out. Even once autumn and winter roll around, all you’ll have to do is close your eyes and you’ll be taken back to the height of summer – to festival season 2019 – and your mind will fool your body into feeling just that little bit warmer.

This warming sensation is achieved through the peppy nature of almost all of the 14 tracks on the record, and almost without exception, regardless of the song’s theme, you’ll find yourself searching for your wellies and your bucket hat as you scramble out of your door to find a field in which you can enjoy this album the way it demands to be enjoyed.

The one exception of this comes with penultimate ‘You Over Anyone’, the one piano driven, sombre track on the record. If it weren’t for Camamile’s signature vocals, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a different band as you sadly relate to the idea of continuing to love someone despite their flaws and despite the end of something that may once have been great. 

While the album as a whole is arguably an indie masterpiece – this is an indie band that outshine every other in their genre – there are moments that fill you with just a little more excitement than others. As the first of a number of previously released tracks, ‘All I Want to Hear You Say’ feels like coming home, ‘Lie to Me’ stretches Camamile’s vocals beyond what we’ve ever heard from him before, before launching into its deeply powerful bridge, and ‘Ready For More’ contains the strongest riff of all 14 tracks. These moments of excellence are like diamonds in a sea of gold and are what make the album as impactful as it is.

If you’re looking for a record that will brighten up what has, frankly, been a pretty abysmal year, look no further than ‘Open Up Your Head’. The wait has absolutely been worth it. 

YASMIN BROWN