The Emerald Dawn - The Land, The Sea, The Air Volume II

The Emerald Dawn - The Land, The Sea, The Air Volume II

Self Released/Bandcamp

Ally Carter—guitarist, saxophonist, keyboardist, and vocalist for The Emerald Dawn—sent me a copy of The Land, The Sea, The Air: Volume II to review, and I am absolutely blown away by it.
This band has a rare gift for songwriting that fills you with dreams and deep emotion; listening to their music gives you goosebumps from start to finish. Someone once wrote that they "put dreams into music," but honestly, the reverse is just as true—they turn music into dreams.

The album opens with the 21-minute epic "Song of the Rainforest." It is a breathtaking instrumental start to the record, showcasing fantastic guitar work from Ally himself.
The second track, "Rivers of Tears," is another massive centerpiece at 16 minutes long. Here we get to hear the brilliant, warm, vocals of Tree Stewart. Beyond her exceptional singing, her piano and keyboard arrangements are beautifully melodic. Don't come looking for heavy, abrasive noise—expect sweeping melodies, tasteful jazzy textures, and seamless, unexpected shifts in mood mid-song.
The rest of the lineup deserves equal praise: Tom Jackson (Drums): Wow. What a wonderful, musically expressive drummer. You can really hear his background playing with jazz orchestras—his performance is fantastic, and the overall drum production sounds incredible. And there is David Greenaway (Bass): A special compliment for his work on both fretless and fretted six-string bass. His playing is so tasteful and melodic, with that gorgeous, warm "growl" (or as we say in Holland, a rich knor) that makes a fretless bass sound so sublime.

The album closes with "Paradise," which clocks in at nine minutes. Clearly, this band doesn't do short songs! Across its total 45-minute runtime, the album feels like a complete journey. Coupled with beautiful lyrics, the entire experience is sensational.
I can't wait to see them live. The Emerald Dawn blew me away with this release, and I will definitely be following them for the rest of their career (and hopefully mine!). This will easily rank very high in my top 10 albums of 2026.