‘I’m just a nomad, carrying a weight I’ll never show’
The sky view sweeping down through the forest and into the blanket of snow, a vision of beauty and desolation, we see Gaerea trudging along pleading with their surroundings, beseeching and vocalising their plight.
I started backwards as ‘Nomad’ is the penultimate track on this album, but never mind, it’s all good.
We see Mother Nature in all her awe-inspiring danger, dominance and dazzlingly superior command. We are held in place, for it is she that controls, we follow and we obey, lest we face her wrath.
Fire, water, earth all are featured in these videos, they are all vibrant, violent, fulfilling and unforgiving.
Looking at the band, they are enveloped in vantablack and the accompanying sigillary – their shield if you will- there is consistency and dependency, maybe that is their physical grounding. The focus is on recognition of their art as opposed to identification. The name alludes to that which cannot be manifested, there is no pigeonhole, which allows for fluidity and a rethink of your perceptions. There is lots to say without words or detailed explanation and analysis, maybe the missing piece never wanted to be found.
With their fifth album they enhance the capabilities we already possess with our five senses, and we gain valuable insight and access to the outer realms, the spiritual and the phenomenal.
Like shapes in the night, they writhe amongst the cables as the band rise like a ‘Phoenix’ out from under the emotional rubble of our lives. We pledge to be victorious; we are attentive to our own specifics and needs and we will not be defeated.
This is a record that gives your rhombencephalon a workout, the isthmus between your midbrain and hindbrain are charged with the responsibility of collecting and dissecting all the varied and colourful pieces that Gaerea have provided and using them as a useful resource to manage your own thoughts when the world has quite literally gone mad.
At just shy of eight minutes ‘Stardust’ tiptoes onto the stage, she gauges the imbalance, the ‘Loss’ of our direction, she is the compass, she is steadfast. At a time when we are overwhelmed and bewildered, she orchestrates and glows, her soft light holds us and heals us.
This is not a time for spoon-feeding, let us all absorb the enigmatic sounds and images, let us be thankful that we are worthy of such art.
Abstract, unattainable, instinctive, distinctive and unapologetic, for fans of …… Gaerea.
Azra Pathan
Gaerea – Loss out on 20th March 2026