Airbag

airship

Airbag is a Norwegian progressive rock band. Originally formed in 2004 they released two EPs in 2007 before signing with Karisma in 2008 and releasing their first full album, Identity, the following year. According to their website their music “is best described as scenic, epic rock”; reviewers consistently compare it with Roger Waters era Pink Floyd.

Here’s a track from Identity called Sounds That I Hear and you can certainly hear echoes of David Gilmour’s guitar from the 4:38 mark.

Airbag‘s second album was All Rights Removed (2011). It continues the “Pink Floyd with pop lyrics” theme, as you can tell from this sample track:

The songs on the third album are heavier, more pointed and more powerful. This preview video of The Greatest Show On Earth summarises the themes of “society’s destructive forces and the individual’s struggle to fit in”.

Album number four elaborates further on the songwriter’s personal struggles, although Disconnected is not quite as bleak as the monochrome On/Off switch cover picture might suggest.

The lyrics seem to say, “Although you are sleepwalking through life now, going nowhere, you only have to wake up to see the light that will give you meaning and purpose”.

Run baby run and don’t look back
Run to the moon and the stars
Lose all your fears
All that keeps you down
And be all you can
And all you wanted to

Airbag‘s latest album is A Day At The Beach, which was released in June this year, and in this blogger’s opinion it’s the best yet. The title track comes in two parts: Part 1 has Airbag‘s signature pop-lyric vocals; Part 2 is a classic Floydian instrumental.