DIYtopia - About Leaving - Scupltures of water LP - https://diytopiacollective.com/review/about-leaving-sculptures-of-water/

"There’s no stopping my pen when I listen to this fugazi-esque guitar! About Leaving’s new stuff is just a massacre with an unhinged midwest-hairdo. A raging, armoured emo assault; the kind I almost had trouble remembering. There are nice Mineral-tasting chords but with cadences that belong to the Sunny Day Real Estate royalty too, all coming together in uncontrollable influences.

 

“Feigning Colours” spits tears on your face from its very first breath. With the gain set to 3 at most, I still instantly become a fan of the maps they like to share, of the decomposed geographic lines they trace, of blurred frontiers amongst screams that aspire to be weeping between ocre octave harmonies.

 

I'd ditch school for “As light”, a song that plays as if part of the best Benton Falls repertoire. Matured emo voice, one so grown that it even starts to taste a bit grunge at the roof of the mouth. A song filled with 90’s spirit, midway between Fun People and that evergreen emo from Catalonia with the BCore atmosphere that refuses to leave us. Bless them.

I gear up into emo-punk speed and watch desert winged-demons pass by my side.

“Conversations in a car” sounds honest. Sadness overcome by salt-tasting smiles. Algernon Cadwallader arpeggios in Texas is the Reason rhythms. About Leaving has even added an uncomfortable feeling to it, the kind that every good Midwest-emo band should have. The one that can, consciously and beautifully, be faulty, true and carefree all at once. It really shows in the middle of Sculptures of Water, with songs such as “If ever it falls” and “Background Character” that stroll on landscapes that seem closer to Liverpool than to California. Sheer emo, even beyond their emo influences. A casual kind of emo, created by a recipe that turns About leaving into something truly authentic.

 

“The Hours, their weight” is the masterpiece of the whole sculpture. A song in which water fluctuates between its every state. A dose of uncontestable personality. I can well picture some loser like me in the year 2040 saying that some newcomer band sounds like About Leaving. My favourite song of the album; I can’t even begin to describe it.

“These walls” blows my head again with its sadness. That pure Mineral school of thought shows its face again. An authentic harmonic bomb that hits the ground with powerful punch-like drums.

 

“Dance & Tremble” has a masterful bridge. A playful arpeggio that reminds me of This Town Needs Guns with a voice that feels like Nantes from Heavy Hearts. Each note brings me a new ingredient, forming a feast of emotions soaked with intention.

Rarity becomes banner in “There, at that place”. Maybe the song that feels most stranded on the album. A good tune that, however, takes me out of the suicidal voyage the rest of the album had put me in. Perhaps I should thank them. Schizophrenic pop that’s hard to disentangle, but nonetheless offers true prowess in its last chorus, sodden in the good taste that permeates the record.

“That Girl you know, the singer” is the perfect soundtrack designed for the album credits. A classy send off built upon outro-like notes.

 

This is an album that I will treasure on my shelf, longing to hear again and again. I applaud this Catalan emo group for filling my homeland with long-missed authenticity.

Thanks for a great record; I’m a believer again.

 

Rockzone​ - About Leaving - An Echo

“Their emotional proposal occupies the void left by their admired friends "Her only Presence" [...] Thus, in these tunes one may find winks, details, echoes, that are reminiscent of cult bands such as American Football and Mineral. As many debuts, the album features a wide variety of genres in which the band seems to feel comfortable. The album title could very well refer to the many influences that resonate, as nice familiar echoes, through its 11 songs. Thus, ​“An echo” ​is a purposely contrasted album, which may be the reason the band chose the versatile musician Victor Teller (Zimt, Oso, Her Only Presence) as producer. The 4:32 minutes of the song 'Of Those Things (that I say & I shouldn’t say)' are the perfect summary of multifaceted personality of the young musicians. Three moods merge into a unique song. Quickly escalating from utter calm into a perfect storm, only to go back to an acoustic, deeply felt, ending.

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In ​“An echo”​ coexist, in perfect harmony, semi-instrumental precious pieces like the initial 'Withered flowers', small jewels of autumnal power pop as 'Unfolded' and dark, prickly, guitar-filled tunes like 'Weary Monuments'. However, they all have something in common: a very particular and special voice and really confessional lyrics that trap you and excite you. In the wave of the missed American Football, Title Fight or Cloud Nothings with a hint of those Weezer from ​“Pinkerton”.​"

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Primavera Sound Festival​ - About Leaving - An Echo

“They have only been together for a year but have had plenty of experience in bands such as Furguson, Jilguero and Ears, which can be appreciated on “An Echo”, the debut of this Barcelona quintet. It is a record that goes from crystalline melodies and injections of distortion to delving into emo evoking both American Football and Weezer. A breathe of fresh air in powerful American influenced pop that the Catalan band delivers with gusto on tracks such as “Backwards” and “The Storm”

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Binaural​ - About Leaving - An Echo

“About Leaving is the best kind of emo: pop and rock woven with guitars that dream and travel to the nineties and rage like unvaccinated beasts. [...] 'Withered Flowers' is an opening that squeezes you like an orange; a song that touches everything: the epic, melancholy and rage, with a subtlety that many would like. ‘Trembling White Lines‘ stands out because of the work of a ragged voice that does not hide from anything”

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Pablo Porcar​ - About Leaving - An Echo

“A sincere reverence for their influences is what we identify in «An Echo», a multifaceted reference by the catalan band About Leaving. The emo rock contained here is the one that casts itself at the feet of the greats bands from the late nineties and early last decade. Without restrictions, without concessions. Playing around with pungent rhythms in songs like 'Backwards', but also successfully and effusively embracing the epicness in 'Trembling White Lines'. Fogged misty emotions that become even reminiscent of the rawest Marjorie Fair in jewelry pieces like 'Patient By The Water'. About Leaving will go far, of that there is no doubt.”