‘…A Place for Owls haven’t just written an album; they have produced a work of art…’
Content Warning: The themes of this album, and therefore this review, touches upon child loss.
A Place for Owls’ discography prior to this record was commendable. The Denver based emo outfit emerged in 2020, and went on to release a solid eponymous debut in 2022. A handful of releases have since followed, earning the band a cult favourite status among emo fans, especially those engaged with the DIY realm. The announcement of their second album was met with excitement, but upon reflection, this record warranted far more than just mere excitement.
To say that their sophomore record is surprisingly good feels like an insult to their previous material. However, it is difficult to put into words just how unexpectedly brilliant ‘how we dig in the earth’ has proven to be. With AOTY lists drafted not just for the year but for the decade thus far, A Place for Owls have charged in at the last moment to upset all of that planning with a modern classic of an emo record.
Whilst the singles were strong, particularly the lead release ‘broken open seed’, this record is one that cannot simply be deconstructed and shuffled by algorithm for easy content consumption. ‘how we dig in the earth’ is an album, true and proper; it pulls a chair up for you and invites you to sit with it for a while, as A Place for Owls take you through the withering grief of fall to the tender, fragile healing of spring.
A Place for Owls have executed this through their superb sense of musical consistency, their incredible understanding sequencing, and their perfect grasp of musical light and shade; each track flows perfectly into the next thematically and musically, whilst never feeling repetitive or lacking in ideas. Acoustic guitars jangle next to scrappy, emo-tinged riffs, whilst catchy rhythms that perfectly capture the fine balance between complexity and simplicity are conjured up. Truly, this record exists as a journey.
All of that commences with the simple yet beautifully haunting introductory piece, ‘go on‘. The lyrics consist of little more than a repeated mantra to speak up admit that ‘you’re not okay at all‘. From here, the album spills open its secrets, and whilst the following ‘hourglass‘ at first carries an air of dreamy, twinkling, and perhaps playful emo, the lyricism is utterly heart-breaking. Vocalist Benjamin Sooy recounts living through the experience of his partner’s miscarriage (‘There’s so much joy as we tell your folks/But this bleeding changes everything‘), and his attempts to reconcile with life’s capacity to change instantaneously. His love and hope remain (‘Still I will wait with you/For a promise we both can see‘), but as the album progresses, it is clear that this miscarriage has forced him to confront himself in a multitude of difficult ways.
‘broken open seed‘ is marked by punchy riffs that play wonderfully with a bright Moog synthesiser melody, with celebratory choruses and infectious melodies that guarantee you will be singing along. The lyricism is far more abstract than that of ‘hourglass‘, but Sooy appears to be ruminating on his own mortality, and the illusion of separation to the natural world that humans like to maintain (‘It’s catching up with me, the symmetry/Of everything on earth that lives and breathes‘); we are still ultimately naught but animals, yet our lives retain meaning, and there remains a beauty in this fact (‘I’d rather die tonight/Than live a life with vacant eyes‘).
‘huston lake‘ returns to where ‘hourglass‘ left off, with a minimalist musical backdrop of acoustics, echoing lap steel, and dreamy, sparse keys. The imagery of a couple attempting to regain some sense of normality (‘At the water’s edge, my spirit broke Rounding Huston Lake, our weekly walk‘) against a backdrop of an ongoing explosion of immense grief is painted with such potency that the track becomes a beautiful yet deeply painful listen to behold. Supportive friends are alluded to (‘All our friends blew our phones right up‘), but Sooy delivers his performance with a yearning for isolation; the existence of the support may well only serve as a reminder of the pain.
As mentioned, A Place for Owls are masters of sequencing on this record, and just as ‘huston lake‘ touched upon the existence of a supportive cohort of friends, ‘find your friends and hold them close‘ and ‘a tattoo of a candle‘ touch upon the vital importance they play when navigating grief. The former is a far more vulnerable affair, with undercurrents of anger rising to the surface as Sooy grapples with the urge to reject hope (‘Casting doubt/On all the good things/On all the things that I built up‘). The latter, however, brings a fiery, destructive will to carry on at all costs (‘I really should slow down/But I feel better when I’m hell for leather‘); it perfectly captures the misunderstanding when grieving that it is a wound that heals through stages, and not simply something that ends. Despite this, the pure, blinding optimism that comes from feeling the urge to live once more radiates through, as the track vaults through anthemic choruses with brilliantly catchy melodies.
In the wake of that fire, Sooy is left to look inwards, pulling apart memories of absent mothers and abusive step-fathers. ‘desmond hume‘ is perhaps a reflection on the joy of fatherhood that had been stolen from him, or the simple realisation that the grief served as little more than the catalyst for an outpouring of sorrow that had been building up within him: ‘I’ve felt fucked up/And I’ve felt that way for a long time‘. The American Spirits he mentions in his backpack are no doubt cigarettes, but the simple dropping of ‘American‘ as Sooy revisits the lyric in the climax is lyrically genius; it’s a subtle acknowledgement from Sooy that he’s been carrying around his own ghosts, and one that plays very cleverly into the following track, ‘haunted‘.
Grieving a past that won’t let go and a future stolen from him, Sooy is left in a liminal space. Between the gentle picking of the guitar, the reverb soaked steels, and the softly rousing trumpet, ‘haunted‘ encapsulates the sense of loss most perfectly on this record, especially when the gorgeous, feathery vocal work of guest Elliott Green joins Sooy. The track builds to a shiver-inducing climax, as rapturous electric guitars arrive on a bed of crashing percussion, and Sooy and Green remind themselves on the most important fact of all; despite all of the grief, they remain alive.
As if the drawing back of the curtains, or the gentle peeling away of the long winter nights, ‘when your eyes close‘ brings cruising, buoyant rhythms that gently uplift the soul. The gently plucked guitars still reverberate with a tender sorrow, but the warm glimmers of hope radiate through, as beautiful vocal harmonies belt out what Sooy declares: ‘Say what you are/Say what you will always be/A light in the dark‘. It’s an acceptance of the darkness, but an acknowledgement that, truly, it shall pass.
From here, the album enters its final act, with the gentle warmth of a lazy weekend on ‘no plans on saturday‘. The capacity of love to heal all ills sits at the very centre of this track, as Sooy reminds ‘I am yours, you are mine/And we are just getting by‘. With ‘what i have to say‘, Sooy looks towards tying a knot in all of grief in losing a mother who is still alive, although by the end acknowledges that even he is uncertain that the bridge could be rebuilt. A gorgeous saxophone solo in the back half makes for a beautiful climax to the track, and plays wonderfully into the ‘closet saxophone‘ lyric.
A Place for Owls round out this album with the sublime closer ‘help me let the right ones in‘, as the first warmth of spring creeps in and Sooy looks towards an uncertain future. ‘Deep inside your chest/Are all the people that you’ve been‘ he declares, and across ‘how we dig in the earth‘, Sooy has shown us those people; an abandoned son, a grieving father, a reckless friend, and a loving partner. This song is an acknowledgement that there are infinitely many people Sooy could become in the future, and with the love of his family and friends, he seeks invite the correct people into his soul. He yearns not to growing old sorrowfully, but instead be joyful that he has had the experience of living, with all of its grief and pain.
Despite the grief, loss, sorrow, and anger that is shown across this record, there is one theme that trumps them all and radiates most brightly by the ending notes; hope. Even in the midst of ‘hourglass‘, Sooy sings of a future where he and his partner get to live as a family (‘And I will build with you/A house where our kids can sleep/And a garden where we can breathe‘); Sooy takes this immense tragedy, and remains steadfast in his will to live, and to love. Pain will exist regardless; all that there remains to do is to keep loving as hard as possible.
‘Hope is a weapon’ sings Sooy on ‘a tattoo of a candle’, and no better lyric could sum up this record. Just as hope can keep you fighting, it can also hurt you when it is cruelly, and often without reason, extinguished. Yet the lesson from ‘how we dig in the earth’ is to keep a tight hold on that hope, and to keep living regardless of how painful it may be.
For A Place for Owls, this record is certain to cement their status as not just an enjoyable outfit, but an essential one, vital to the emo scene. There is little doubt that in years to come, this record shall be viewed as not just one of the seminal emo records of the time, but a record that may well bridge the gap into wider consciousness. A Place for Owls haven’t just written an album; they have produced a work of art.
RATING: 97/100 – Mostly Perfect
For Fans Of: Manchester Orchestra, saturdays at your place, Sleeping Patterns, Origami Angel, Adjy
Physical copies are available to purchase here.
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