The album cover to The Appleseed Cast's 2019 album 'The Fleeting Light of Impermanence'. It's a mostly stark, black cover with "The Fleeting Light of Impermanence by The Appleseed Cast" in small white script in the center.

In the wee hours of the morning this morning, my favorite band, Lawrence, Kansas’s own The Appleseed Cast released their 9th album, The Fleeting Light of Impermanence.

I’ve only given the album one listen so far today, but I’m already ready to herald it as my favorite album of the year so far - and their best since 2006’s Peregrine.1 Even this many albums on, the band continues to expand their sound (perhaps because there’s only one original member remaining, singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Chris Crisci), with this album in particular focusing much on synths and other assorted electronics.

If you’re looking just for one track to sample, I recommend the track “Collision". The album starts with some deep and moody synths, but quickly builds into some incredible, Wilco-esq guitars2. It’s this loud-quiet-loud, build-and-release feel matched with vocals “lost in the waves" which has always endeared me to the band, and this track is a brilliant example of what I adore about them.

Check it out, I hope you enjoy it!

  1. To be fair, I like pretty much all of their albums, with the only one that I didn’t totally fall in love with being 2009’s Sagarmatha. ↩
  2. I’ve really been on a Wilco kick, lately. My life is becoming a Hard Times story. ↩