Leaving Time
Angel in the Sand
SUNDAY DRIVE
Pleased to meet you, Leaving Time. No, really, we mean it. With Angel in the Sand, you’ve brought us a penetrating debut that’s at various turns haunting, alluring, catchy, and confident—an extraordinary first album that could rival the fourth or fifth outing by most post-rock bands. That sense of confidence in particular (especially when swagger doesn’t subjugate it) is far more than merely endearing. It’s activating, provocative, and a constant reminder that us listeners are in good hands. From all indications on this 34-minute maiden release, Leaving Time have already figured out their identity, making Angel in the Sand not just a bold first album, but a thoroughly well-considered and well-constructed opus that introduces the band with aplomb.
By way of background, the post-rock-meets-shoegaze quartet congealed in 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. Leaving Time’s echoey sound calls to mind morbid doom-rockers Have a Nice Life and Planning for Burial, but also Glare and All Under Heaven, with whom the group released a split in 2022. In between the band’s birth and that split release, Leaving Time slipped out two EPs that proved their promise from the get-go. Engineer John Howard’s fingerprints are on all three of those early releases, and given that his production chops are an especially good fit for the band he rejoined them for Angel in the Sand. Particularly on the record’s early tracks, Howard conjures a cavernous quality that suggests a distance between the band and their audience, enhancing Leaving Time’s sometimes-detached sensibility. Beyond that, the interplay of the rich guitar textures epitomizes Leaving Time’s sound and ensures that Angel in the Sand remains captivating throughout.
For the most part, the band succeeds (the guitar work downright excels on “Burn” when it’s elevated to a wild high pitch). To the extent that Leaving Time’s debut is flawed, many of the songs on Angel in the Sand end prematurely with fade-outs (“Arm’s Length,” “Only Forever”), leaving the listener wondering if those tracks would’ve taken different directions had Leaving Time kept with them. All in all, though, Leaving Time’s first full-length is a downright pleasure to listen to from start to finish.
