Chicago-based math rock/emo band Mountains for Clouds are calling it quits, but not before giving us one last album as a parting gift. Anxious & Aware showcases all the things that made them great; expansive musical soundscapes and contemplative, emotional vocals.

Anxious & Aware sees release on February 21st via Count Your Lucky Stars, just prior to the band’s last show on February 23rd at Chicago’s Sleeping Village. More details about the event can be found HERE

The Big Takeover is both pleased and bittersweetly sad to be hosting the premiere of the final album from Mountains for Clouds.

Bands with boundless names that evoke strong imagery rarely live up to their monikers. Fortunately, in the case of Mountains for Clouds, we have a group that lives up to their title.

Mountains for Clouds composes huge, soaring pieces that build up with majestic glory and are layered with a delicate beauty so fragile that it threatens to break at the drop of a pin.

While most bands would take this a step too far, Mountains for Clouds are masters of their craft, reining in or shaping the intensity of their music like it was clay in their hands.

On Anxious and Aware we can hear their entire decade of playing together culminate into one last masterpiece. We hear the return of their large and sweeping musical vista – Andrew Stefano’s guitars that create their own sonic soundscapes, conjuring up images as grand as their moniker, Dusten McAdams’ bass that weaves in and out like fine stitching on a tapestry, and Marcus Nuccio’s drums detailed precision that add immense clarity and power.

We also can hear something refined – contemplative and emotional vocals from Stefano and McAdams that finish off the panoramic portrait, leaving us with a feeling that we have just heard something special – the final work of a musical life well spent.

All bands come to end, but not all of them bow out as gracefully as they came in. Let’s celebrate Mountains for Clouds’ last album instead of mourning their musical demise.

The band give some insight into the flow of their last album, explaining, “The album was recorded in two phases of our band’s life, one year apart and a member less. The two halves have a different feel to them due to that – One side is “anxious” and one side is “aware.”“

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