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**Oceansize - Frames**
★★★★☆

In the grand pantheon of British progressive rock's unsung heroes, few bands have wielded such devastating emotional artillery as Manchester's Oceansize. Their 2007 opus "Frames" stands as perhaps their most cohesive statement—a towering monument to the kind of expansive, heart-rending rock that seemed to slip through the cracks of mid-2000s musical consciousness like water through cupped hands.

The quintet had already established their credentials as masters of the slow burn with 2003's "Effloresce" and 2005's "Everyone Into Position," but by the time "Frames" emerged, Oceansize had refined their approach to something approaching perfection. This was a band that understood the sacred geometry of dynamics, the way silence could be as powerful as the most crushing chord progression, and how melody could pierce through walls of distortion like sunlight through storm clouds.

The album arrived at a curious juncture in British rock history. While Arctic Monkeys were conquering the world with three-minute indie anthems and Radiohead were disappearing further into electronic abstractions, Oceansize were swimming against the tide, crafting songs that unfolded like novels rather than haikus. "Frames" was their most accessible work, yet paradoxically their most complex—a collection that invited casual listeners in with gorgeous melodies before revealing labyrinthine depths.

Opening with the magnificent "Commemorative 9/11 T-Shirt," the band immediately established their intentions. Mike Vennart's vocals drift like smoke over a landscape of crystalline guitars and thunderous rhythms, building to a climax that feels both inevitable and surprising. It's prog rock without the pomposity, post-rock with actual songs, metal with genuine emotion. The track serves as a perfect mission statement: this is music for people who believe that three minutes simply isn't enough time to say anything meaningful.

The album's emotional centerpiece, "Music For Nurses," showcases Oceansize's remarkable ability to balance beauty and brutality. Beginning as a whispered confession, it gradually accumulates layers of instrumentation like sedimentary rock forming over geological time. When the song finally explodes into its crushing finale, it feels like a dam bursting—all that careful tension released in one cathartic moment. Similarly, "Unfamiliar" demonstrates their mastery of space and texture, with each instrument occupying its own carefully carved niche in the sonic landscape.

But perhaps the album's greatest triumph is "The Frame," a twenty-minute epic that serves as both the record's culmination and its raison d'être. Here, Oceansize stretch out completely, allowing ideas to develop organically across movements that shift from delicate fingerpicking to seismic walls of sound. It's the kind of ambitious composition that could easily collapse under its own weight, but the band's intuitive understanding of pacing and dynamics keeps it aloft throughout its considerable runtime.

Musically, "Frames" exists in that fertile territory between progressive rock, post-metal, and alternative rock that few bands have successfully navigated. The influence of King Crimson and Tool is evident, but so is a distinctly British sensibility that recalls everything from Radiohead to My Bloody Valentine. Vennart's guitar work is particularly noteworthy—he's a player who understands that the spaces between notes are just as important as the notes themselves.

The production, handled by the band themselves alongside Chris Sheldon, captures every nuance of their sound without sacrificing power. The drums hit like cannon fire when necessary but can also whisper like falling leaves. The bass provides both foundation and melody, while the dual guitar attack creates landscapes that shift from pastoral to apocalyptic within the span of a single song.

Tragically, "Frames" would prove to be Oceansize's commercial high-water mark rather than a stepping stone to greater recognition. Despite critical acclaim and a devoted fanbase, the band struggled to find their audience in an increasingly fragmented musical landscape. They would release one more studio album, 2010's "Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up," before disbanding in 2011, leaving behind a small but perfectly formed catalog.

Today, "Frames" stands as a testament to the power of uncompromising artistic vision. In an era of playlist culture and shortened attention spans, it remains a powerful argument for the album as a complete artistic statement—a reminder that some stories simply can't be told in three-minute chapters. For those willing to invest the time, "Frames" offers rewards that reveal themselves slowly, like