Winter At Sea are one of the most unique and forward thinking bands I know of. This collaborative project invite players in from far and wide to compose and record remotely. Captained by ex-Flies Are Spies From Hell guitarist Chris Chapman, Winter At Sea’s latest EP Hearts is their most ambitious release yet – a 20-minute long suite that flows through different movements. From ghostly quiet ambient through to cacophonous soaring climaxes, Hearts is a post-rock tour-de-force.
Hearts also marks a special era for Winter At Sea, as what began as a studio only project has at last blossomed into a live entity. Winter At Sea have been playing shows frequently this year, and yet their live line-up is unique to their recording projects so far, favouring a stripped back acoustic sound, performing reinterpretations of studio tracks, and new pieces entirely. Winter At Sea continue to operate in their own lane, playing by their own rules, and that only makes them more interesting and intriguing.
ACCOLADES
“Its patient construction, haunting details and enormous final release turn twenty minutes into a complete emotional arc that is incredibly immersive.”
~ Turbulent Music
“Winter At Sea pierce to the core with their deft approach to sorrow, memory, persistence, and hard-won triumph.”
~ Heavy Blog Is Heavy
“Twenty short minutes of great post-rock. Twenty short minutes to dive into without restraint. Twenty short minutes to listen to again and again without ever tiring of it. A modern symphony made up of five movements, each more dazzlingly beautiful than the last.”
~ Totoromoon
FROM THE PRESS KIT
Winter At Sea are an entity torn between nostalgia and the age of streaming and social media; lost in the storm yet proudly defiant of modern day engagement and promotion. They do not use social media, preferring to engage with their listeners in person and by mailing list. They are a band that favour the tangible touch of CD, tape, vinyl and hand-printed packaging over modern streaming platforms. Their influences come from the DIY ethos of the groundbreaking post-rock artists and labels of the 1990s – Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, and Rachel’s, and labels including Constellation, Rock Action, and Kranky. “We’ve been inspired by the spirit of ’90s post-rock,” confirms Chris Chapman, the de facto captain of this ship; “not just the music but the sense of freedom, experimentation and contrariness.”
Born as a studio project in 2020, Winter At Sea hone a pass-the-parcel approach to recording where Chapman, alongside engineer Grant Light, lay down the groundwork of a composition and then invite fellow collaborators to record their own parts remotely, joining them in person when possible. These travels went as far north as Manchester, where the drums were recorded by acclaimed producer and Pijn guitarist, Joe Clayton at No Studio. These talented collaborators are bonded together not by locale, but by a shared taste and vision, guided by a musician’s internal intuition. Winter At Sea’s players on Hearts include fellow Flies Are Spies From Hell guitarist Will Tomlins, Andy Selby (who also performs modular synth as Resting Pulse) and A. L. Lacey (who has an acclaimed solo record on Human Worth), both formerly of Monsters Build Mean Robots; and finally, the newest collaborator, Din Of Celestial Birds drummer Vincent Knight-Schrijver.
Released on August 28th 2026 on CD via A Cheery Wave Records.
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