Take this and clutch it tight: for you will never want to let go of it.

Before I go any further with this review, I’m going to state my honest, subjective opinion. After doing so, I’ll indulge in a more flowery and effervescing style of writing, so as to convince you, the reader, that this album is not only a must-have and a must-hear, but quite possibly the best work from any instrumentalist in the past few years. My opinion is, as anyone has probably already guessed: The Exquisite Death Of proves to be one of the most moving, tragically staggering, beautifully arranged song cycles I have heard in some time… anytime, to be honest.

Forget all the jargon, forget all the specialized knowledge about music that you need to really be a connoisseur. I’ll get into that later. Anyway, jargon isn’t as important to me right now. Did those who received Bach’s Goldberg Variations have an adequate language to talk about the melodic and harmonic innovations exhibited in that piece? Centuries after its initial reception, Goldberg Variations aren’t just simply relegated to pieces novice piano students learn on a rained out ball game, proving once again that basic language fails to express what an impact such music can have on us. Furthermore, we are really noticing a shift here: Saxon Shore might just be ahead of their time in terms of how they arranged The Exquisite Death Of. My only hope in writing these words is that the album will birth a long period in which listeners receive and reinterpret the song cycle, gleaming whatever meaning they can from it. I think everyone can appreciate Saxon Shore for their endeavor on their latest because it leaves space for you, the listener, to apply your own meaning, your own narrative to Saxon Shore’s demise, and subsequent phoenix-like will to power through the tracks that constitute The Exquisite Death Of. Think of it as a “choose your own adventure,” only musically revved up with the most passionate music ever.

Their bio states that they broke up and re-grouped around the record, making The Exquisite Death Of an apropos title for an exercise in sonic reflexivity. Their own death may be the meaning and the guiding rationale for a paean as dramatic and churning as this, but through their own lack of words, and their intuitive musical senses, Saxon Shore provide the listener with his or her own critical space: his or her own room to write a narrative to the music that they’re hearing. Saxon Shore have found their groove in creating an album that, while constructing some of the most melodic music to date, also wields a space for its listener to apply his or her own reception to it. No cheesy moods are invoked here, and we’re not contrived into a cookie cutter reaction. In all honesty, how many times do we perplex over stories and ideas where we’re given everything we need to know? We know it’s good that Cinderella gets her glass slipper, but are we entirely sure it’s a good thing that Romeo loves Juliet? Likewise with Saxon Shore, what are we to make of their death? Literally, I fail to even formulate clear thoughts on how to situate and receive a recording like this, because I find myself in the situation that the original receptors of Bach’s Goldberg Variations must’ve felt: utterly stunned.

What I can say is that – across the board – The Exquisite Death Of possesses a very cinematic quality, as if tracks like “The Revolution Will Not Be Streaming” existed solely as music for the denouement of every amazing film you’ve ever seen. And each song invokes images / colors: red flags, black mask, explosions, and other sorts of vibrant passion. Such a synesthesia remains to be unprecedented. Countless plotting and scheming occur during the scenes of “This Shameless Moment.” Is there any hope? Can we even begin to surmount the obstacles put in front of us? In “With a Red Suit, You Will Become a Man,” the chorus embraces each guitar track, and the melodies build to a triumphant hurrah. If “The Revolution Will Not Be Streaming” functions as a mercurial denouement, “With a Red Suit, You Will Become a Man” must be the hero’s gallant entrance: when he or she accepts the challenge given to them. Truly, we can see this latest effort as the result of countless hours, methodically thinking out each idea, and bending it to its most malleable arc. The result is a start to stop experience that is as new and fresh with every listen.

So goes my reaction to the peaks and valleys of The Exquisite Death Of. The pure passion and melody heard in these tracks demands one’s full attention. Even if instrumental music fails to hold your attention, I would highly advise anyone to give Saxon Shore a listen. Talk is cheap, but pure melody is ever lasting. My only disappointment is that Saxon Shore might get big and become lingua franca, but at least I can say I was there, at a point in time when we were at a cross roads.