Following up April’s sublime Blue Sky Noise, Circa Survive return with Appendage, a collection of demos and b-sides from those sessions that splits the difference between Blue Sky Noise’s more straightforward song structures and the etherial meanderings of Juturna and On Letting Go.

“Opener Sleep Underground (Demo)” feels like an introductory track — wistful, dreamlike, more of a mood piece than a song, and singer Anthony Green repeating “this is just for you and I alone” until the track settles somewhere between a mantra and a lullaby. It’s followed by “Stare Like You’ll Stay”, a bright and straightforward number that would make the perfect concluding track to the sort of upbeat album Green and company have never written, with a positivity nearly unmatched in Circa’s catalog. “Everyway” is the true standout track on the album, a rocker as strong as anything on Blue Sky Noise, with tight strong structure and some of the most well-crafted lyrics Green has penned (“inaccurate // and imprecise // there is no gift // without a price”).  Best of all, it features a gorgeous ascending vocal line that hits the sort of pitch-perfect high note Green is famous for. The final two tracks, “Backmask” and “Lazarus,” showcase Circa’s more experimental side. Consequently, they feel slightly adrift without anything to contextualize them. “Backmask,” with its rhythmic drum pulse and searing guitar harmonics, runs itself in circles before dissolving into echo. “Lazarus,” a melancholy ballad, spirals outward into squalls of feedback become coming to rest uncomfortably. Both feel unfinished, or at least unresolved.

Taken as a whole, Appendage feels more like the ragtag collection it is than the typically consistent, coherent pieces Circa Survive usually turn out. Circa are a band who seem to always focus on the bigger picture, and the missing guiding concept leaves something else a little empty, a hole that is less than the sum of its (substantial) parts. Appendage isn’t essential, but its songs— especially “Everyway”— are a worthy addition to the collection of any Circa Survive fan.

3.5/5

*This review was composed by Jesse Richman