Less than a year since the debut “Asleep or Insane,” BAKELIT is pleased to announce the follow-up album “No Fear of Drowning” on September 26th. ”No Fear of Drowning” is a dramatic and powerful album. Its lyrics delve into the darker aspects of the human psyche, the very traits that can, paradoxically, make us stronger and more driven to do good. The album has six songs, and “From the Underground” is first. The opening tones are tense, as something bubbles underneath the surface. The vocals enter inconspicuously, and later with full harmonies. It’s dark, but not without character.

“Moment of Peace” is another cloudy offering that seem to occupy the space between hope and despair…anger and compliance…even light and dark, but it’s almost too short to really take flight…either that or it is being held back. “We Still Hate You” also has a good deal of tension. The band seems to take, and stretch it out, until it is about to break, but it never does. The message is very dark, “we still hate you,” but the music isn’t angry, rather demonstrative. “Week, Immature, Aggressive” has electronic tones that are even darker than some of the previous songs. It seems to come at you like a breath of frigid air from the north…it just chills you to the bone.

The title track has more of the electronic elements of the previous song, but it still plenty dark. The vocals are hushed, and whispered at first, and it makes you feel like you are somewhere in between the world of the living and the world of the dead. “Bombs in my Head” is the final song, and admittedly, it is a bit odd. That darkness not only seeps in, but it begins to take over. Just when you think all is lost however, a resolve comes through. For me, even by the end of the album it’s mystique continued. It’s the kind of sound that doesn’t wrap things up for the listener, but instead, leaves a lot of ambiguity for you to decide for yourself.