Pelican: Adrift / Tending the Embers EP

Since exploding through the speakers in 2001 with their Untitled EP, Chicago post-metal titans, Pelican, have been steadfast ambassadors across the darkest frontiers experimental music has to offer.

While the likes of Earth and Sunn O))) led the chorus from the void, the likes of Boris, Pelican and ISIS proved a worthy supporting cast, maintaining (for this writer, at least) one of the most influential periods of music since the turn of the century.

Through the Debris: 19 Years with Pelican’s Australasia

Following Pelican’s glory years which saw the release of high-watermarks, Australasia (2003) and The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw (2005), on the back of their fourth long-player, 2009’s What We All Come to Need, guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec parted ways with the band. Trevor Shelley de Brauw, and brothers Bryan and Larry Herweg were then joined by Swan King’s Dallas Thomas, where the band tore through the ensuing decade with two full-lengths, including the excellent Southern Lord release, Forever Becoming (2013).

In 2022, the band reunited with Schroeder-Lebec for a series of live dates which coincided with Thrill Jockey’s expanded reissues of Pelican’s first three albums. The band also teamed up with Numero Group as part of the label’s cover series which saw Pelican covers songs from post-hardcore legends, Unwound and Karate. In between the tour van and studio, the embers were stirred, with Schroeder-Lebec rejoining the band on a permanent basis.

Writing their first songs as the original line-up since 2012, last week the band surprised us with their new two-song EP, Adrift / Tending the Embers. Reconvening with long-time producer, Sanford Parker (FACS), there is little doubt that Pelican have resumed their ceaseless march through the mire.

This isn’t a band finding their feet or going through the motions. Anyone who has witnessed the Pelican live experience will know about the boundless synergy between each band member and what the results can bring.

A-Sun Amissa: Ruins Era

On Adrift, Pelican’s doom trudges see Schroeder-Lebec and Shelley de Brauw resume hostilities that stretch beyond the insipid post-rock tropes that have dulled the senses over the years. With the backing of the Herweg rhythm section, the pair unleash diesel-powered sonics that lurch through barren terrains. Through their sound, Pelican have always created a post-apocalyptic imagery, much of it inspiring the band’s artwork over the years, too. It’s no different here.

Then there’s Tending the Embers; another journey through the steaming marshlands, with fizzy breezeblocks that are seemingly weighed down by the turmoil of these times. Again, Pelican’s sound creates portals of unrest, and that’s why their participation in the new music landscape is so vital.

Tumultuous times call for bands like Pelican who sonically dial in and mirror the dread. And with more new music from the band in the offing, not only is Adrift / Tending the Embers a wonderful new dawn for band, it’s a much needed one for us on the other side of the studio glass, too.

Adrift / Tending the Embers is out now. Purchase from Bandcamp.