大海的乐章Vol.1 我听到海的心跳 An Elegy for the Ocean – I Feel You by 鲸鱼马戏团 (Whale Circus)

With deadline after deadline in the rear view mirror, we have to ask ourselves: is the fight for the climate already over? Chinese neoclassical group Whale Circus announces the now inevitable environmental collapse on An Elegy for the Ocean (I Feel You), reframing the typical call to action narrative on the climate into a heart-wrenching lament for a battle already lost. Hypnagogic production sheathes the album’s straightforward orchestral melodies in deeply textured distortion and reverb, conjuring our warm memories of the livable world that our children will never experience. Layers of electronic drone and oceanic samples coat the background, drowning out all voices from our memories, reminding us that these moments of comfort, of peace, of triviality now only occur in the unbearably lonely confines of our mind’s eye. Such a bold, transparent admission of defeat blindsides us, since political and economic forces around us beg for and profit from our continued optimism, but eighty degree Octobers don’t bat an eye. It doesn’t do anything for you. It doesn’t do anything for anyone. It’s just true; that’s it.