ABOUT
Ships Have Sailed is the brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Will Carpenter. The band materialized after a hesitant decision to individually focus on new music. The process was initially daunting but the risk proved to be invigorating and refreshing. The music became uplifting and buoyant. The lyrics revealed a thoughtful and conscientious perspective, and the sound evolved into sincere indie rock with an unabashed pop structure. After sharing it with fellow musicians, Carpenter recruited a lineup that now permanently includes drummer Art Andranikyan.
Carpenter describes the band's moniker not as a pessimistic reference to the renowned idiom "that ship has sailed," but instead a fresh, positive perspective on the unexpected outcomes of unforeseen circumstances. It's an adage that can be applied to his own life of growing up in poverty in rural Vermont and being kicked out of his home as a teenager. And it’s from these challenging experiences that Carpenter often reflects on to draw introspective inspiration.
With Carpenter acting as main producer in his home studio, Ships Have Sailed has recorded and released a diverse collection of albums, EPs, and singles that consistently evoke an unrestrained cathartic desire to be heard and enjoyed. Either through crescendoing ballads or indie rock alacrity, their music always captures a uniform sense of sanguine sensibility. And by combining an ardent work ethic with an impressive range, the band has maintained a well-earned buzz that has led to international tours, impressive industry showcases, and awards honoring their independence. They’ve had several songs spend weeks in the top five on listener-voted KROQ Locals Only (“Escape,” “Stay,” and “Take My Money" all reached number one). And most recently, the band received significant exposure after their cinematic single “Broken Hearts” was placed in an episode of CBS’s legal drama Bull.
Their album Ages (released on March 24, 2022), most of which was co-produced by Dan Sadin (MØ, Joy Oladokun), is a testament to the band’s progressive journey. They openly admit that their new creative outlook focuses on optimism as a therapeutic reflex due to recent trying times –both global and personal. Their new lyrical message questions the pathway of life and time and how our perception of it will always change. And the result has made their music more profound than anything they’ve ever done before. The album continuously and flawlessly pivots between epic anthems (“Escape”), acoustic serenades (“Skin”), and funky dance-pop (“Faithless”). Songs such as “Can’t Go Back” and “Breathe” conjure moody, atmospheric sonics. The title track “Ages” leans into open, emotive honesty while “More” is a hard-hitting blues banger. As a successive experience, it is thoroughly immersive and a guaranteed gamut of emotions.
“Lyrically and sonically, Ages represents a life arc,” says Carpenter. “It addresses an exploration of our humanity, our egos, and our instincts. It’s about how we change over time and are shaped by particular journeys and experiences because while I was shaping this album, my life was also shaping me.” To celebrate the release of Ages, Ships Have Sailed recorded and broadcast a virtual album release show at Dan Sadin’s studio (RADD Sounds) in Ojai, CA – which resulted in a live album “Live from Ojai” being born and later released
The events of the past several years have also brought a significant amount of grief. During the creation process of Ages, Carpenter’s mother-in-law succumbed to cancer and he subsequently lost one of his earliest musical mentors to an unfortunate and unexpected accident. These traumatic events combined with the stress of the pandemic opened Carpenter to a new perspective on life and its consequential choices. His creative pursuits, as always, have been greatly influenced by everything happening around him, so it’s no surprise that these poignant personal losses resulted in a powerful new song called, "Silence" which was chosen to be featured on the season 19 finale of Grey’s Anatomy.
Last year saw many highs for Ships Have Sailed but one in particular hit home for Carpenter. A song came to him almost out of nowhere. It was whimsical and sweet but also deep and thought provoking. At first, he thought he knew the reason why it found him when it did, but shortly thereafter, he and his wife found out they were expecting their first child, a baby girl – and from there the song (their new single “Edge Of An Ocean”) began to make a lot more sense.
Carpenter recalls, “This song began as a premonition: a love letter to my unborn daughter. As I write this, she is just three weeks old. It's a big, beautiful, scary world, and I want her to experience the best of it without having to know the worst - but I also know that is impossible. In order to appreciate happiness, we must know sadness. In order to love deeply, we will always have to experience profound loss. In order to cherish the time we have here, and the moments we have with our loved ones, we must recognize it is all temporary. Somehow all those hopes, wishes and dreams, anchored by our bittersweet reality, wove themselves into this song, which presents as a bit unassuming, but may reveal a surprising amount of depth.” The song was later featured in an episode of the Canadian television series, Ruby and the Well and subsequently, an episode of the action-packed detective series, Hudson & Rex.
Ships Have Sailed released a slew of singles this past year, adding to their already copious collection. Among those, was the rock-heavy anthem, “Get Loud”. A song that not only captured the attention of fans and followers across the globe, but to their joyous surprise, also won the grand prize in the USA Songwriting Competition. The band joined forces with long-time collaborator and indie-folk artist Abby Posner to bring the track to life. On the surface, the track itself is a foot-stomping, slightly twangy, rootsy rock anthem that screams for attention and speaks to overcoming adversity and standing up for everything the band believes in. Beneath the obvious, however, there's always a deeper story which all began when the U.S. Supreme Court made the controversial and unprecedented decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Carpenter recalls how the idea initially came to be, “My first instinct upon hearing of the decision was to be angry, so I sat with that for a moment, and then reflected on all the times throughout history when the powers that be attempt to strip away the rights of many to appease the few. A thought popped into my head: "ok, so it's about to get loud". I wanted to bring a different perspective into the writing process, so I immediately reached out to a dear friend of mine, Abby Posner, who is an incredibly talented artist and producer, who I felt would bring an important lens to the song. I explained the idea and where it came from and she jumped in immediately.”
Their first single of 2024, “Find My Way” presents as a slightly upbeat, quirky tune, but what’s behind it contains a depth that might surprise their fans. A song uniquely crafted from someone else’s story entirely. One that took Carpenter on an incredible journey of his own. Carpenter chronicles just how the song came to be, “It all started when a friend asked if I would help her write a song based on a very personal story she wanted to tell. I hadn’t done anything like this before, but was intrigued. The story was a decades long love story. She and her husband married fairly young and went through the typical hurdles of marriage and parenthood, working hard to support their family, but realized they needed something big to look forward to that would get them through the tough times.”
Carpenter continues, “This dream became a meticulously planned road trip across America (their home was in the U.K.) which they almost decided NOT to make a reality for one reason or another. However, when my friend's mother passed away, they decided it was time to live their dream, so they quit both their jobs and headed across the Atlantic. It was epic, everything they had dreamed of and more. Sadly, my friend lost her husband suddenly a very short time after their return. Despite this, the song is not a sad one. It's a note of gratitude that these memories were able to be made before my friend's profound loss. A love song to her husband and to the music that got her through this tragic transition. As with almost everything I write, there are layers, and above all, a silver lining. For me, it became an important reminder to make the memories while I can and to live my best life to the degree I'm able.”
As the song continued to develop, Carpenter realized that, although this wasn't his story, it somehow felt like it belonged under the Ships Have Sailed moniker. “My friend's story spoke to me at a time when I feel like I needed a gentle reminder about what is most important in life, and because of that both the story and the song dug their roots deeper and deeper into me. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.” “Find My Way” was released on January 21, 2024.
Discography:
Walking Into Walls - Single
Broken Hearts (NU_HAVEN Remix) - Single
Find My Way - Single
Every Little Bird - Double A-Side
Disappear (Lucien Francis Remix) - Single
Disappear - Single
Get Loud - Single
Edge Of An Ocean - Single
Silence - Single
Live from Ojai - LP
Creep - Double A-Side
Ages - LP
Broken Hearts (Stripped) - Single
Broken Hearts - Single
Low - Single
Rise - Single
Stay (Stripped) - Single
Let’s Just Dance - Single
Mixed Up - EP
Up - Single
Whispers - Acoustic EP
Re: MIX - EP
Moodswings - LP
Someday - EP
Midnight - Single
Ships Have Sailed:
Will Carpenter - Vocals, Guitar, Production, Composition
Art Andranikyan - Drums