The Stills’ 2003 debut Logic Will Break Your Heart was one of the best debuts of the year.  The young Montreal band showed much promise with the post-punk inspired (but never derivative) sound.  Their 2006 follow up, Without Feathers, was a giant misstep.  They traded their Echo and the Bunnymen influences for Fleetwood Mac.  With Oceans Will Rise, the band finds themselves on a new label (Arts & Crafts) and reinvigorated.
Oceans doesn't fall back on the sound of their debut, rather the band builds on that sound, crafting a sounds that strikes a balance between their first two albums (but leans closer to Logic).  Songs like the first single “Being Here” balance slick textures of post-punk and soaring, arena-ready U2; the opening track “Don't Look Down,” sounds like Echo and the Bunnymen covering Steve Miller's “Abracadabra” (and yes, it somehow works).

But Oceans Will Rise isn’t all nostalgic post-punk; tracks like excellent “Everything I Build” and “Snakecharming the Masses” are quieter, moodier affairs that expand the band’s sound effortlessly.

While Oceans Will Rise doesn’t have the immediacy of Logic, it's most certainly a step in the right direction for The Stills, who are once again one of the most promising bands to come out of Canada in the new millennium.