Searows’ new album is ‘violent and vulnerable’

By Yanuel Santos

How do you feed a monster that insatiably demands for more? This is the overarching question Searows, the pseudonym for artist Alec Duckart, begrudgingly asks within his sophomore album “Death in the Business of Whaling.”

Released on Jan. 23, this nine-track album provides his listeners with the inner monologue of someone who will seemingly always bring a knife to a gun fight. Within the thought-provoking title and intricately illustrated cover of the album by Duckart himself, he literally and metaphorically paints a visceral image of what is to come within the content of his lyrics; violent and vulnerable.

Searows’ first album “Guard Dog” felt like such a personal journey in which he faces both external and internal forces of evil. This time around, it seems as though the forces have only grown hungrier and more merciless than ever. If you are looking for a feel-good album, this definitely is not it. But if you are like me and seek music that will help you look within yourself and release emotions you might not have known you had, then maybe this is the one for you.

“Belly of the Whale” is the opening track of the album and provides us with our very first impression of it, with the song serving as an admission of defeat with the lyrics; “I’ve been here for a long time // I tried and I failed.” Here, Duckart metaphorically sets the grim scene of him being stuck in the lowest point of life with nowhere to go and no fight left in him.

“Kill What You Eat” is the next song, providing us with some context to how he has gotten to this point. He uses the lyrics “A rotten apple hasn’t always been that // I want my body back” and “Fighting like an insect // That nobody wants around” to set a stage in which only he is standing on, with no one around to help. Duckart reveals how he is not the boy he used to be, though he desperately wants to be.

The third song, “Photograph of a Cyclone,” is probably the happiest sounding one within the album. Do not let the whimsical, folk-inspired instrumentals fool you though; this one is about facing pure darkness. “Treading careful, God, you look so evil // Letting some big monster in the room” are lyrics that are quite relatable to me as I have so often found myself circling the drain, unsure of how to feel and unable to really do anything about it. How do you fight something bigger than yourself?

“Hunter,” the next song, answers that question; you turn into it. “I am a killer with a heart on fire // I’ll be the hunter when you tell me I need to be” depicts the internal battle when you become the very thing you hate, whether it is out of necessity or habit.

Perfectly placed right in the center of the album is “Dirt.” If I had to choose one song I feel fully encompasses the album, it would be this one. At its core, I believe the album is about the fine line between guilt and innocence, with the lyrics “And you can’t see the path that you are on // And, all of a sudden, they’re cutting the wings from off my back” serving as a contemplation of how much of his situation is truly his fault as he could only go so far with clipped wings and blurred vision.

arly Missed.” The grungy, distorted guitar combined with the evocative lyrics work in tandem to provide a heart wrenching work of art. “I really need you to help yourself” is a line that I’ve never explicitly heard but always felt. Like myself, Duckart simultaneously embraces yet pushes away this sense of becoming the villain in the story. At this point, he is willing to take down anything that stands in his way.

“Junie” is the seventh song of the album and my next favorite. Here, Duckart finally receives a helping hand from a friend, but pushes it away. He has made it this far without any help and does not want to drag anyone down with him. A lyric that really struck with me is “I made this mess from a distance, it’s gonna take me next // It’s the creature that’s moving at a terrible speed.” Despite his sense of growth by taking accountability, the monster that’s been present from the beginning is still finding a way to catch up to him.

“In Violet” feels like he is taking a pause from all the running he has been doing to catch his breath. I find the lyrics “The last of your honor to die thinking you were a coward // I love you more than the sinking sun // Said I was a god, and I’m not sure that you bought it” to be hauntingly sweet and naive. Whether he is talking to Junie, or to himself, I am not sure, but there is this air of acceptance that flows throughout the song. The story is about to end, and he seems to know exactly how. It is uncertain whether he is about to succeed or fail, but it is clear that he has tried his best.

Finally, we have “Geese.” This song, like the entire album, explores how exhausting it is to live, but how even greater of a shame it is to not live at all. I will admit, this is the only song I went to search the meaning for because a big part of me wanted to find where the happy ending was. I do not entirely find comfort in the fact that once this song is over, he just ends right back in the belly of the whale. Though, it does make perfect sense as there is not a limit as to how many times one can reach rock bottom. The lyrics “But, my darling, you cannot live like this forever // Like wild geese flying towards something // You do not have to do good, but you cannot do nothing” depict the quiet strength he still manages to hold on to throughout the peril he has been facing and will seemingly continue to face. In “Dirt” he spoke of being an animal with clipped wings, and he now compares himself to the likeness of geese; birds that fly with conviction. Searows knows he possesses this incredible power, but is still unsure what to do with it. As shown by the lyrics “I will not lay me down in front of the tracks // If I swore that I meant it, then I take it back.” He makes it known that he will at least continue to do something.

There is something about musicians who can portray how human they are into such well-written lyrics that really resonates with me. I have never been one to view life as this exciting and fun journey more so as a voracious creature that keeps begging for more. But it is not always like this. Throughout the past few years, I have learned that life is about continuing that path in the best way you can, holding on to the good, and stopping to breathe in the violets.

 I have been a fan of Searows since his debut 2022 single “Used To Be Friends” was the only song in his Spotify discography, so I am very excited to see him perform this amazing album live in concert in May as I have saved almost every song released by him to my library since then.

“Death in the Business of Whaling” is an extraordinary showcase of artistry, created by someone who is able to dig deep within themselves and make light appear from out of the darkness and earns an obvious five out of five stars from me.

Yanuel Santos is a senior graphic design major