Perhaps nobody has described The Sea The Sea better than The Huffington Post, when they proclaimed: “If Joni Mitchell and Elvis Costello had ever decided back in the day to write, sing, and make a duets record together, it might’ve sounded something like this.”
Based in Upstate New York, The Sea The Sea, comprised of Chuck and Mira Costa, is an indie folk-pop duo frequently celebrated for their otherworldly vocal harmonies, infectious melodies and unconventional song arrangements.
The name, The Sea The Sea is borrowed from Xenophon’s Anabasis – the ancient Greek soldiers’ cry of joy when returning home from battle.
The Sea The Sea released their debut album, Love We Are We Love, in 2014, and quickly garnered praise from NPR, American Songwriter, and No Depression, among others. The album amassed over 15 million streams on Spotify, while the animated video for the song “Waiting,” sparked viral interest from Buzzfeed, Pitchfork and was included in the 2015 international TED conference. The Huffington Post called The Sea The Sea, “two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this year or any other.” By enlisting the careful production of Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird, Anais Mitchell, Nels Andrews), with accompaniment like tuned wineglasses and swathing strings, they’ve created an honest and ethereal debut album.
In 2016, The Sea The Sea teamed up with producer Troy Pohl and released their six song-EP, In The Altogether, which earned a spot on Apple Music’s ‘Best of the Week’ and ‘A-List Singer/Songwriter.’ Working with Pohl again in 2018, band released their third album, From The Light, and toured as a four-piece with Cara May Gorman (vocals, synthesizer) and drummer and percussionist Stephen Struss. From The Light is an all-inclusive soundtrack that parallels the apparent duality in everyday life. More importantly, though, it’s an exploration of the spaces in-between — the grey areas, where the story often lies.
On August 28th the duo plans to release their new album Stumbling Home on AntiFragile Music. With the announcement of the new record, Glide is excited to premiere the single “A Thousand Years.” Showcasing the duo’s harmony-driven vocals, piercing, heartfelt lyrics, and their delicately complex guitar playing, the song is a beautifully restrained meditation on stillness and clarity. Of course, in a world swirling with sickness, injustice and a general sense of chaos, these themes resonate with all of us looking for an escape from the madness. Luckily, we still have music and a song like “A Thousand Years” – with its lush folk-pop soundtrack – remind us to savor the moment.
The duo describes the story and inspiration behind the song:
“This song came out of a “cut out” exercise we use sometimes to generate ideas, where we cut out random words from old paperbacks and re-shape them into original lines. It’s something we learned at a songwriting retreat called Crooked Crow way out in west Texas in the middle of the desert right on the border of Mexico. No cell service. No internet. It’s beautiful. It’s quiet. At night out there we often found ourselves under an unimaginable blanket of stars, just listening to the silence. Listening to nothing. It sounded thousands of years old. A clear and peaceful sound. That deep sense of stillness has become a portal for me. And the song has become a reminder, when I get swallowed up in the din of it all, all the minutiae, the paperwork, all the noise, or even in the dizzying joys. A reminder to stop, take a sec, be out there in the stillness, where it’s always beautiful. Always has been and always will be. If I can get there then clarity will follow. Sometimes it’s music that gets us there, sometimes it’s a conversation, sometimes its just quiet.”
LISTEN:
Photo credit: Kiki Vassilakis
