Back with his first new music in nearly four years, Scott Petersen’s Sea Dramas solo recording project returns with a sophomore Escape Scenes album that reminds us just how beautiful the swirling aural textures in his music can be.

Recorded during the lockout 2020–2021 period in his San Francisco hometown that was so heavily affected by the COVID pandemic (i.e. the first U.S. metro to be placed into a full lockdown status), this release sees Petersen explores the essence and meaning of the ‘concept of time’ that was so cruelly thrust into our collective consciousness us during our new stay-out-home isolation.

While the different nuances of time are reflected in the imagery of the names of the tracks, with moon, tides, long goodbyes, and sundown all being broached, it is the musical nuances he chooses to express his feelings with that move the album into the realms of an early contender for the 2024 “best-ofs”.

As such, tracks best represented by the glorious opening triple salvo of Daybreak, Long Goodbye, Nite Passengers, and Moon Breaks adopt a similar jangly folk meets orchestral-pop sound to that of 3.A.M. Again, while simultaneously augmenting the aesthetic with a swirling late-80s Cocteau Twins dream-pop vibe that tethers the entire album.

The majority of the remainder of the album adds subtle groove-inflected basslines as Running Thoughts, These Days, and Less Than Useless create a jangled yacht rock sophistication that is the perfect foil for the smooth Phil Sutton/Pale Lights croon of Petersen’s vocals.

Every year, there is an early album that just stuns us with its beauty. Last year, it was Darksoft’s Beigeification; this year, Escape Scenes assumes the mantle. Grab yourself a limited edition CD or cassette from a Royal Oakie Records label that has been in majestic recent form, here.

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