Rating:  6.0

I wouldn’t have predicted Explosions in the Sky to be such a popular band. They appeared on Conan O’Brian on February 20th, and an upcoming show at New York’s 1,500 capacity Webster Hall sold out a solid month in advance. Other successes have been easier to predict—the Smashing Pumpkins-influenced Silversun Pickups, the Led Zeppelin incarnate of Wolfmother—but the method behind Explosions in the Sky’s appeal remains more challenging. With shimmering, orchestral grandeur, their latest LP All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone is a provocative album of moody instrumental soundscapes. If you’re a fan of Sigur Ros or Mogwai, you’ll like Explosions in the Sky’s version as well.

This Austin-based quartet genuinely warrants that most overused of a music critic’s adjectives, “epic”. All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone is a symphony inspired by vast, star-studded Texas nights; the band incorporates southwestern melodies into songs like “Welcome Ghosts” in a whispered ode to their home. All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone embarks massively with “The Birth And Death Of The Day” (even in its song titles, Explosions in the Sky attacks grand themes): cymbals crash triumphantly, a guitar echoes with heavy distortion, echoing as if reflecting on loves lost and promises broken. Sweeping melodies can be discerned among the layers of sound, yet they’re not the point.

All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone is an album based on evoking emotion—of joy, loss and desperation—in the manner of classical music or a movie soundtrack. One is quickly swept up in Explosions In The Sky’s earnest triumphalism as ethereal, twinkling guitar frosts over the density of their sound, adding a seductive lightness. Explosions in the Sky lack the pop tendencies that often account for an indie bands’ popularity, but for those who like their music big—or even fans with prog rock inclinations towards bands like Kinski—All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone will prove fulfilling.

—Mary Mulholland