Oh, reader, if only I could convey to you the current mood in my heart and head right now, but I don’t think the words for doing so exist in any language. It’s the kind of feeling when manic depression and grief and rage and restlessness and fear and the need to escape blend together into a horrendous-smelling stew. And despite that stench, I still feel like there’s good in the world. I still feel like there are things worth living for. I still feel like holding out hope.
So in this wild state, what music fits the mood? Well, it’s FINITE., the new album from Sky Is Alright, of course. We’ve covered the lead single “Summer In Galt” already, giving you a taste of the solid shoegaze mastery of London-based Rishi Neal Arora and LA-based Chris Gregory. On the greater album, the collaborators and childhood friends of twenty-five years have crafted one of their most realized works to date, helping each other through despair in order to put out eight tracks of excellence.
This entire record has been a work in progress since 2022, which is when Arora lost his sister, whom he claims shaped his musical identity. Arora worked his grief into the album, from the moment he received the harrowing phone call about her death (“Angeli”) to him imagining her final moments on Earth (“Rendered Obsolote”). Before all of this, of course, is “Summer In Galt”, in which Arora recounts taking a trip as a child to visit his dying grandmother. Creating this mournful framework helps us to understand and relate to Arora’s mindset, just as it helped him shape the music of FINITE.
The album’s title relates to mortality: “Finite” means an ending, and comes from the same root as “finish” and “fix”. Death is a fixed point in all of our lives: There’s no getting around it, and anyone who claims to have found the key to eternal life is fooling themselves. Therefore, the question remains: How do we deal with death? How do we cope? Arora doesn’t offer any direct answers on FINITE., but instead, he tells stories and shares memories. He sets the tales stuck in his mind to soaring guitars and scowling vocals, full of emotion and power that come from the fresh pain of mourning.
Arora and Gregory both carry plenty of expertise when it comes to crafting good shoegaze out of suffering. No one element overpowers another, even when Arora’s vocals go from soft melodies to harsh snarls into the microphone. “Angeli” is a perfect example. During the verses, the breathy vocals sit just on top of the guitars, bass, and drums, all of which form a tight mix that envelops the ears. But in the chorus, Arora shouts “All hail your eternal frown / You won’t get to see her grow”. Even in those outbursts, the vocals neither screech through nor compress against the speaker. The tracks on FINITE. offer fantastic mixing to allow the angst to amplify, but the overall musicality to shine.
This musicality offers diversity, especially when Sky Is Alright slow things down on tracks like “Windmills For Miles” (in which Arora cites the passage of time and several classic clubs), “Argue For Sunlight” (an admission of loneliness), and “Drink and Sway” (a song for coping mechanisms for dealing with death). Regardless of the tempo, Arora and Gregory bring incredible heaviness to each track, especially on a tune like “Countryless” where every instrument hits on each beat. It’s hard not to make comparisons to peak Pumpkins or Hum.
But despite the desperation in the music and lyrics, it’s also hard not to find some hope in FINITE. “Rendered Obsolete” may at first sound like a funeral dirge, what with its slow tempo, Arora’s airy vocals symbolizing weakening breath, and the finger-picked guitars sounding like final synapses on the brain. But in the song’s second half, the song’s power explodes as Arora repeats the phrase “I’m on a swing / I’m flying back and forth / To the stars”. The catharsis in the album’s ending is nothing short of breathtaking: It seems to insinuate that in her last moments, Arora’s sister became one with the night sky, her soul scattering into the stars all across the galaxy, staying alive in spirit.
So while FINITE. offers no answers about death or how to cope, it doesn’t have to. Through the music, Arora and Gregory have offered a perfect vehicle for dealing with their own grief and – perhaps – allowing listeners to process theirs. In etching his sister’s story into his songs, Arora has kept her memory – and therefore her – alive in a way that honors their shared love of music. And he and Gregory do not hold back when it comes to pouring out their passion for song and their pain over the loss of a family member and a friend.
Even when it seems like all is lost, all it takes is a crash of catharsis to put everything in perspective. And so Sky Is Alright’s FINITE. is perfect music for helping me navigate these weird darkness I’ve felt lately. Perhaps it’ll help you as well. Take a listen to the new album below.
Written by Will Sisskind
