One reason I enjoy writing music reviews is that it forces me to dive deeper into albums I might have previously overlooked. I’ve been a casual fan of Sinai Vessel since 2017’s Brokenlegged. That album hit me hard at exactly the right time. With their 2020 release, Ground Aswim, I may have listened to it once or twice and never went back. I probably would have done the same with their upcoming 2024 album, I Sing, if I wasn’t reviewing it. I would have missed out on thirteen tightly crafted, gentle indie rock songs.

The first thing that caught my ear when I listened to this record was how strong the production is. The instruments are all captured and mixed in a very natural, intimate way.  The vocal capture on the record is next level, with Caleb Cordes sounding better than ever.  This is all apparent immediately on the opener “Doesn’t Matter,” which sounds like a mix of Right Away Great Captain and Bossa Nova. With cleanly captured guitars and drums, the song beautifully sets the stage for the rest of the record.

The first five songs seem to draw from different influences on each track. The influences that come to the forefront for me are Iron and Wine and Death Cab for Cutie. My personal standouts from this batch are “How” and “Birthday.” “How” sounds like it could fit right in on Transatlanticism. “Birthday” captures the gentle indie sensibility of the first few Iron and Wine albums. That’s not to say these cuts are derivative; perhaps even more impressively, they capture the mood and feel of those artists while still maintaining a fresh sound.

One of Caleb’s strongest songwriting qualities is his storytelling ability. This often comes to the forefront throughout the record, where he creates backdrops for his characters as he crafts carefully constructed narratives. The best example of this is the album highlight “Laughing.” During the second verse of the song, we are dropped into a scene of the main character riding his bike through a rich neighborhood. While contemplating what it would be like to have to beg these well-off people for some relief, he imagines that the circumstances that led him here might not have to do with aptitude but rather luck from being born to rich parents. This is a very relatable feeling for many people right now, who feel they’ve worked hard to position themselves for success only to find that accumulating wealth in the current economy is extremely difficult.

The one real curveball on the record comes during the title track. On “I Sing,” the instrumentation is a bit darker and builds into a very loud rock band section. This song feels a lot more like the band’s earlier material than what we find on the rest of the record. It feels perfectly placed as a juxtaposition to the very quiet opener.

One of the few drawbacks on the record is the middle section. The sequencing from “Country Mile” to “Window Blue” could have been adjusted slightly to give the record better flow. That’s not to say that this stretch of songs is lower in quality than the rest of the record. However, don’t give up on the record here, as what follows is an incredible stretch of three songs with “Best Witness” and “Attack” being album highlights. “Attack” is the longest song on the record and perhaps the most dynamic, starting with quieter guitars and eventually crescendoing to a big finish.

There is a lot more to unpack and dive into on I Sing. Whether it’s the beautifully placed keyboard melodies throughout the record or the ability to use stripped-down songs to support Caleb’s wonderful storytelling, it is clear that on I Sing, Sinai Vessel is more inspired than ever before. I believe with the right stroke of luck, this album has the potential to lift the band to new heights of popularity.

Rating: 8.1/10 

Track list 

1 Doesn’t Matter  (2:59) 

2 I Sing  (2:17) 

3 How  (2:32) 

4 Challenger  (3:14) 

5 Birthday  (2:55) 

6 Laughing  (3:21) 

7 Country Mile  (3:08) 

8 $2 Million  (3:53) 

9 Dollar  (3:03) 

10 Window Blue  (3:03) 

11 Best Witness  (2:59) 

12 Attack  (6:31) 

13 Younger Brother  (3:35)

Reviewed by Bryan Williams