Today’s Song: The Sweet Seduction of The Sea The Sea’s “Bang Bang Bang”

The Sea The Sea © Kiki Vassilakis
The Sea The Sea © Kiki Vassilakis

An inimitable beauty emanates from The Sea The Sea’s latest single. Sweet and seductive, “Bang Bang Bang” radiates with folk-rock light and love as The Sea The Sea bask in truth’s warm embrace.

She can see the future
with the backs of her eyes
The truth comes pouring out
when she starts to cry
Blowing on an ember
every time she sighs
Listen: “Bang Bang Bang” – The Sea The Sea


Hailing from upstate (Troy) New York, The Sea The Sea began as the folk duo of married couple Mira and Chuck Costa. The rich harmonies and folk-pop wonder of their 2014 debut album Love We Are We Love turned many a head in their direction, and set the stage for an immense period of musical and creative growth. Having added Cara May Gorman and Stephen Struss to their permanent lineup, The Sea The Sea have demonstrated incredible sonic and lyrical maturity in their recent singles “Let It Be Said,” “Everybody” and “Good for Something,” all of which come off their forthcoming sophomore album, From the Light (independently out June 1, 2018).

Sometimes you know it from the start
Bang, Bang, Bang goes your heart
Bang Bang Bang - The Sea The Sea
Bang Bang Bang – The Sea The Sea

“Bang Bang Bang” seals the deal for The Sea The Sea, confirming them as an artist to watch this year and placing them on our radar for good. Passionate and evocative, the charming folk rock ballad weaves dramatic, full-bodied vocal harmonies into a hauntingly moving expression of the deepest form of love.

What was in the reason
when it all was set in flames
No one ever asked her
she was something wild to tame
Maybe it was love,
but she left it just the same

“This song was built around the idea of personifying truth in one big extended metaphor,” The Sea The Sea tell Atwood Magazine. “It wasn’t until after we recorded the song that we realized that we had accidentally written what could be interpreted as a murder ballad. We decided to capture elements of both interpretations in conceptualizing [the song’s] lyric video. Our own Cara May Gorman (vocals, synth) hand drew all of the retro-comic book inspired images, and our own Steve Struss (drums) digitized and co-colorized them. Then we handed it all over to fellow Troy, NY pals and collaborators, Chromoscope Pictures, to work their magic and bring it to life.”

From the Light - The Sea The Sea
From the Light – The Sea The Sea

And bring it to life, they did: The “Bang Bang Bang” lyric video depicts the song’s two stories simultaneously, adding a colorful visual that adds a little extra depth to an already vivid experience. Even in the video’s absence, we can sense the weight of the world falling onto the narrator’s shoulders in the song’s breakdown and third verse.

The door was left open and she was gone
All the books on the shelves
The light was still on
No one dead or alive could tell her she’s wrong
I think she tried to show me
But I could not understand
Speaks in tongues and knows me
For exactly what I am
The truth it will come knocking
With a fire in her hand

Considering the cultural upheaval, social turmoil and political discourse of our country over the past few years, it only makes sense that an ode to truth would feel both distanced and intimate; bittersweet, yet whole-heartedly loving.

Whether you’re taken by the soceital underpinnings driving “Bang Bang Bang” or simply dazzled by the song’s sheer majesty, there’s no denying that The Sea The Sea have an underground hit on their hands. We cannot wait to hear more from them as the year progresses, but for now, streaming “Bang Bang Bang” and previous releases on repeat will do.

The Sea The Sea’s sophomore album From the Light is out June 1, 2018; pre-order it via PledgeMusic here!

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:: stream/purchase “Bang Bang Bang ::

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Bang Bang Bang - The Sea The Sea

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? © Kiki Vassilakis

:: The Sea The Sea ::


:: The Sea The Sea Tour Dates ::

* with Josiah Johnson (The Head and the Heart), Planes on Paper
April 15 – Charleston, WV – Culture Center Theater
April 19 – Glens Falls, NY – Live! Folklife Concert Series
April 21 – Pittsfield, MA – Whitney Center for the Arts
April 21 – Woodbury, CT – Woodbury Earth Day
May 13 – Albany, NY – Albany Tulip Festival
May 17 – Warren, RI – Hope & Main
May 30 – Portland, ME – One Longfellow Square
June 1 – Albany, NY – The Hollow Bar + Kitchen
June 2 – Burlington, VT – Light Club Lamp Shop
June 3 – Nashua, NH – Riverwalk Café and Music Bar
June 8 – Northampton, MA – The Parlor Room
June 9 – Freehold, NJ – Concerts In The Studio
June 20 – Brooklyn, NY – Littlefield *
June 21 – New Haven, CT – Café Nine *
June 22 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim *
June 23 – Concord, NH – South Stage at Market Days Fair
June 24 – King of Prussia, PA – Concerts Under the Stars
June 27 – Richmond, VA – The Downtown Music Hall*
June 28 – Asheville, NC – Ambrose West *
June 30 – Charlottesville, VA – The Southern Cafe & Music Hall
tix & more info @ theseathesea.com
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