RIM OF THE WORLD BY LANTERN BY SEA

There comes a time in every boy's life where they must become a man. This has been tradition throughout time in every culture across the world—some kind of symbolic passage from boyhood to manhood. For some cultures, it’s a celebration. For others, a test of will, or a feat of strength.

​For me, my becoming a man was when I listened to this album. I could feel my testosterone rise. My voice got deeper. I saw my beard grow in real time. To top it all off, my girlfriend told me, “I was thinking about breaking up with you, but there’s no chance now.”

And even though everything I just said is absolute bullshit, I loved this album from beginning to end. Prior to the album’s release, the band did a bunch of promotional videos with shots across breathtaking landscapes that made you think you were in a slightly brighter, sunnier version of Game of Thrones, and at the same time, still a little misty and mysterious. The album captures the same sense of awe and wonder that these landscapes give, so much so that the album becomes the antithesis of their band name. It is not a lantern by the sea, not a small light in the dark, but it is a blazing sun, burning so hot and so bright that it refuses to be ignored.

My wanderlust was so titillated after listening that without realizing it, I had typed out my two weeks notice, ready to risk it all to travel and write full time. But alas, in the end I went back to my boring desk job, sat down in my ergonomic chair that probably costs more than the fair market value of my car and let out a long sigh. “Fuuuuuuuuuck.”

Then you press play on the album again and are lost in time and space again. A man can dream, can’t he?

Best songs off of my gut feeling after the first couple of times listening: "Ghost Story," "Blooodhound," and "Sea of Sirens." An absolute banger of consecutive songs.