After 13 years and a slew of singles, Indie rock band Atari Pilot has released their sophomore record It’s The Journey You Can’t Live Without. The group’s debut project, Navigation of the World By Sound, was released in 2011 and the band had to take a pause after band member Onze’s cancer diagnosis.
When sharing what it was like during his recovery, Onze shared, ““I was lying in a hospital bed in Oxford hooked up to a chemotherapy drip and I just knew that if I survived I knew there was unfinished business with Atari Pilot. I really wanted to learn how to make the most of a second chance at life and getting back to music was part of it.”
The album being the band’s second and being scattered with references to second chances feels like kismet. The project starts off with 2023 single “Train Of Life,” the song launches the listener right into the journey and sings the album’s title It’s The Journey You Can’t Live Without. The song has some beautiful visual imagery when comparing life to a train, “sometimes you’ve got a first-class ticket / sometimes its standing room only / it’s crowded, and you still feel lonely.”
The 11-song project wraps up with “Songs for the struggle,” it feels reminiscent to a Lewis Capaldi song. Onze has rich deep vocals that ooze emotion throughout the track. It is even more powerful when you know his journey and what it took him to get here. The album’s tagline is “it’s not about where you’ve been, it’s where you’re going to…” and while it can feel cliché, heartfelt music like this is a perfect reminder not to take second chances for granted.
Written by Katie Power
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