Ships Have Sailed, the band that has been feeding us inspiration and hope for the past year, has released yet another soulful indie tune to meditate to — “Breathe.” Vocalist and guitar wizard Will Carpenter said that this song was sparked from reliving family traumas. He told us, “‘Breathe’ started as therapy in a way. I have a really large family and folks have varying degrees of intimacy within those relationships (siblings and parents, etc.) — it’s very drama-prone and I found myself pondering the toxicity of keeping secrets buried, especially when you reveal them to some and not to others.” He wanted to channel those notions and create something “focused on the therapeutic nature of breathing and how that can root us down to reality when nothing else can.”
The tune is a languid yet deep mixture of lyrical guidance and dreamy instrumentals. Each line seems to start with a deep breath. Lyrically the song helps us navigate and admit our demons but melodically it helps us stay calm while doing so. If we just continue to live, continue to breathe, we can face the trauma and we can get through it. The song calls us out: “Who do you think you’re running from?”
“Breathe” holds us accountable.
Ships Have Sailed believes in us. Carpenter shared, “Given everything we’ve been going through as a collective over the past year though, I would say what has struck me is the sheer resilience of humans — truly, it’s incredible.” We see this all over their music. His perspective, his view on life and the people that live in it is powerful. It’s one thing to make good music, but it’s another to have something to say. Ships Have Sailed’s “Breathe” will be the soundtrack to all of our recoveries as we start to renter the new year and the new world.
