There’s an art to looking back. For Caskets, it could have been easy to plough forwards regardless, riding the wave of success from their breakthrough debut ‘Lost Souls’ (over 250 million streams to date), that opened tours up across the United States and mainland Europe, and secured appearances at landmark festivals Download and Slam Dunk. But having swapped the bedrooms that fostered album number one for countless hours on the road, reflecting on that journey and the decisions that led them down certain paths quickly became unavoidable.
If ‘Lost Souls’ was primarily driven by vocalist Matt Flood’s personal experiences, ‘Reflections’ delivers a wider picture of Caskets as a whole, borne out of the usual interpersonal differences that all bands face at least once in their career. For some it marks the end, but for others it fosters a collaborative environment that pushes the music well beyond what has come before.
The result reflects each individual member of Caskets, with Matt joined by guitarists Benji Wilson and Craig Robinson and drummer James Lazenby. The record’s more upbeat moments carry impactful melodies, upping the ante from ‘Lost Souls’ with considered force, while the powerful ambient moments play out with real finesse.
In a step away from the singular retellings of ‘Lost Souls’, the Dan Weller (Bury Tomorrow, Enter Shikari, Holding Absence) produced ‘Reflections’ was a series of individual lessons, looking back at a specific moment in one of the band member’s lives; a thought, feeling or events, and how that moment shaped the present. Since its release, ‘Reflections’, has been streamed over 50 million times, taking the band’s career total to over 350 million.
