Exploring the Emotional Depths of We Lost The Sea's A Single Flower

I remember very fondly, even after many Belgian beers, a question I put to We Lost The Sea right after their epic Dunk! performance back in 2017, and it went along the lines of “Where do you guys go after this?! and how do you follow up an album like Departure Songs” to which Mark Owen replied “ We don’t really know yet, but we’re gonna go bigger mate!”  Well, what followed two years later was Triumph & Disaster, and as brilliant as it was, to me, it never felt like the true follow up to Departure Songs.  Don’t get me wrong, there was some absolute behemoths in there like Towers, The Last Sun and Parting Ways but the album just didn’t feel complete. It wasn’t the cohesive collective I dreamt of.

Anyway, fast forward more than five years later and I believe the post-music world has finally been rewarded with the album it’s been a long-time yearning for. What is beautiful about A Single Flower is that rather than trying to surpass Departure Songs, it’s been written to compliment it. It’s that quieter, contemplative brother that speaks volumes in whispers, but who’s message is quietly devastating. For me, A Single Flower is already a masterpiece.

I know there is a mighty discography of earlier albums to reference when seeking comparisons, but I want to use Departure Songs as the benchmark here because that is where nearly every post-rock album over the last decade has rightly been gauged off. What makes A Single Flower equally as good is its emotional precision. Where Departure Songs delivered power through crescendo led rhapsodies, A Single Flower achieves the same impact through intimacy. Every note feels purposeful, every pause charged with feeling. It's a testament to the band’s growth where it’s not about going louder for louder sake, but just about digging deeper.

I often review albums track by track, but to be honest, attempting that would do no justice to any of these pieces of music. There are too many layers and textures, too many moods, and so many little nuances and surprises that keep revealing themselves with each listen for me to put into a few lines of text! 

Where Departure Songs told stories of human sacrifice and tragedy through dynamic, post-rock epics, A Single Flower is a little more introverted. Across all six tracks, this hugely contemplative album explores themes of darker times and the power of quiet resilience. The music unfolds slowly, often meditatively, with delicate piano, ambient textures, and restrained guitars weaving a rich emotional tapestry. Moments of silence and stillness are given space to breathe, letting melancholy and beauty linger in equal measure. Amidst all that glory and grandeur are moments of real power and heavy leaden guitars. This album has a punch to it when called upon, and with that in mind, what must be acknowledged here is the power and creativity of Alasdair Belling on drums. As much as I loved Nathaniel D’Ugo’s style, every band needs to evolve in some shape or another, and with a new percussive direction, Alasdair has given the band a well-timed shot of adrenaline.

A Single Flower is a mature, deeply moving record that proves We Lost The Sea’s emotional scope reaches far beyond just volume. With its own quiet intensity, A Single Flower proves itself the equal of Departure Songs, and that’s not by mirroring it, but by offering a different kind of emotional weight, one that’s rooted in subtlety, reflection, and that trademark We Lost The Sea style of mastering the balance between power, poise and restraint. Utterly Brilliant.