Surfaces Learn to Let Go on All the Space Between
"It's time to let 'em go, I think it's time I lightened up my load," Colin Padalecki sings on "Let 'Em Go," one of the standout tracks from Surfaces' seventh studio album, All the Space Between. It's a deceptively laid-back song, recalling the breezy feel-good sounds of Sugar Ray and 311—bands that have long served as spiritual ancestors to the style of music Surfaces has been blending with hip-hop and R&B since 2017. Beneath the kick-back grooves and acoustic guitars, however, lies an honest anthem about accepting the things we cannot change and reclaiming our own truth.
In this case, the thing Padalecki couldn't change was the departure of his bandmate and Surfaces co-founder Forrest Frank, who left following the band's previous album, Good Morning, to pursue a solo career in Christian music and launch the project Party Wave. While All the Space Between finds Padalecki as the lone official member of Surfaces, he is far from alone creatively, recruiting an eclectic group of collaborators that includes Anderson East, Adam Friedman, and Mike Posner, who also appears on the great album opener, "Blame It All on Me."
What Padalecki cooks up on his first album leading Surfaces solo may ultimately be the band's strongest work yet. With sole creative control, he distills Surfaces into the clearest and most confident version of the band they've been striving to become since 2017's Surf. That vision helped earn the attention of none other than Sir Elton John, who featured the duo on Rocket Hour before inviting them to appear on The Lockdown Sessions alongside artists including Dua Lipa, Gorillaz, and Miley Cyrus.
The album closes with the appropriately titled "Snake Eyes," a song that initially sounds like an artist lamenting the things he can't change but ultimately reveals someone finally comfortable in his own musical skin. "All the things that were lost before their time / All the dreams that never found daylight / Don't make them lies," Padalecki sings over delicate piano. Nearly a decade into their career, Surfaces continue to reveal just how many layers they really have.
