The Stillness in the Belly of the Whale: Searows’ Death in the Business of Whaling

When I first listened to Searows’ music two years ago, I was in the midst of the agonizing calm between two depressive episodes—treading water in the eye of a storm. My then-best friend and now-lover sent me the tragic yet comforting “Roadkill,” with which Alec Duckart’s mesmerizing harmonies and heartbreaking musings instantly drew me in. As I continued to grow and regress, Duckart’s music kept pace alongside me: “North Star” and “The Collector” when I was worried for a friend, “Keep the Rain” and “Crybaby” when I was worried for myself, or “Walk Me Home" as I fell in love. Now, I find myself in the wake of the worst-and-

best years of my life, finding my place in a world that didn’t stop when I did. As if psychic, Duckart’s newest project Death in the Business of Whaling has accompanied this journey at the perfect time. This Moby-Dick-inspired, hauntingly beautiful, and more musically expansive look into Duckart’s psyche is a sullen epic

that further emphasizes the simple beauty of Searows’ songwriting.

Contrasting from the simple instrumentation of acoustic guitar and layered vocal harmonies on Guard Dog, his 2022 debut, Duckart now employs a repertoire of drums, banjo, harmonica, synths, and even electric guitar to immerse listeners into the seaside shipwreck he stands upon in the album’s artwork. Tracks like “Belly of the Whale” and “Photograph of a Cyclone” expand upon their acoustic roots with drum and banjo, further emphasizing the intense emotions in Duckart’s smaller-scale songwriting. “Dirt” and “Geese” are closer to his earlier work yet still present Duckart’s new, fuller sound, like with the harmonica that accompanies the fingerstyle guitar in the final moments of “Dirt.” The most significant departure from Guard Dog is “Dearly Missed,” an explosive rock ballad that complements Duckart’s guilt-twinged belting with distorted guitar solos and heavy drums. The instrumentation on his sophomore album showcases an evolution of his original sound, but one that still frames his songwriting perfectly.

Despite its sonic changes, Duckart’s songwriting remains devastating in its simplicity. Most songs on Death in the Business of Whaling use simple chord progressions to highlight their beautiful lyrical content and ethereal vocals. Duckart’s soft vocals accompany his sullen observations with enchanting melodies; a highlight is his opt-up in “Kill What You Eat” as he sings, “A rotten apple hasn’t always been that / I want my body back.” Duckart masterfully uses repetition to showcase the cycle he finds himself stuck in, with the first verse of “Hunter” being bookended by a frustrated “damn it.” Similarly, “Dearly Missed” uses the repetition of its chorus to show the development and aftermath of a hard decision, gradually shifting the lyrics from “If I sell you out” to “I sold you out.” The most poignant lyrical moments, however, are those that thrive in simplicity. The most compelling lyric of “Junie” is the frank admission of “I want a whole ’nother life.” In “Geese,” he simply asks the subject, “What is chasin’ you, brother? / What is testin’ your luck?” The lyricism of Death in the Business of Whaling is candidly crushing, with Duckart’s straightforward admissions of pain presenting an intimate tour of his psyche.

Death in the Business of Whaling is Duckart’s most cohesive project so far, tying his anguished feelings to a conceptual epic inspired by Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Many aspects of the album are picked straight from the novel—the title is an almost-exact quote. The opening lines of “Kill What You Eat” (“Well, do you kill what you eat? / Gutting a fish for the family”) reframe the novel’s prose as a question to himself. This cohesion is further supported through the use of lyrical motifs present throughout the album. “Kill What You Eat” features the line “Something else is missing / I’m an outlaw now,” while the very next track (“Photograph of a Cyclone”) details “wasting hours in outlaw country.” Additionally, variations of the phrase “I want it back” appear in multiple songs. Its most realized and devastating usage is in “Dirt,” as Duckart sings “And all of a sudden they’re cuttin’ the wings from off my back / Head on the sofa, hands on my lap / I want it back.” The album’s cohesion makes for a more poignant listening experience, tying Duckart’s tragic musings together through motifs and literary connection.

Searows’s music finds peace in the eye of a raging storm—his devastating, all-encompassing emotions transduced to soft music and poetry. In Death in the Business of Whaling, his quiet musings are elevated to a new level, with its cohesive soundscape only drawing listeners further into Duckart’s world. This album’s brutal honesty paints a detailed picture of depression while still lulling listeners into a place of comfort—an experience that will surely make any listener who, like Duckart, is or ever has been in the “Belly of the Whale.”

Favorite Tracks:

“Kill What You Eat,” “Photograph of a Cyclone,” “Junie”

Rating: INDY

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Maxine Messina is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, planning on studying Psychology and Music. She’s moving in with her grandma by the seaside.