Your Portrait: A Look Into See Plus’s Debut Album

See Plus photographed by Jose Castillo

Debut albums are often an artist’s introduction to a prospective fan. This first impression is a delicate one, and one that See Plus has managed to execute artfully. After a series of EPs and singles spanning from 2018 until now, See Plus has released their long awaited LP: Your Portrait. The band’s first extended release has been years in the making, and spoiler alert: it is well worth the wait.

The three singles off of the album, Glow, Sleeping Through, and Boat, exhibit the range of the album well. Glow and Sleeping through bring with them heavy guitar and drawn out vocals. Boat boasts a more melancholic, soft rhythmic feel, with a chorus that you can sink into. 

Cats Fighting in Spanish serves as a classic opening track. Coming in at under two minutes, it is the perfect introduction for what you’ll be hearing. It eases you right into the album with a mellow instrumental. Then we have Boat, well known and well loved. Thematically about being stone walled, but sonically a headbanger, Boat sets up the concept of Your Portrait nicely. The tracks complement each other well, with the calmer tracks being followed by the more driving ones. Take Ocean of You, Too and 2BIG being back to back, for example. These sorts of intentional choices are what solidifies Your Portrait as a listening experience, not just an album. 

Following Sleeping Through, arguably the best three run song of the project approaches: 3, Weather, Man, and A Settlement. The run doesn’t stop there, with Glow and Eatable Bugs rounding the LP out. 

As far as ending tracks go, Eatable Bugs cements itself as iconic.

“I actually think Eatable Bugs is the best thing they’ve ever written,” said Luke Fahmy, assistant to the band. “I don’t even see that song as one that my friends made, like it actually feels like I can remove myself and that artists came together to make it if that makes sense.”

Longer songs tend to be the passion projects of an album, and Eatable Bugs is no different. It’s a track that ends the album with a sense of cohesion and finality. Yet it’s a finality that leaves room for another listen. You would never be able to tell that it was a behemoth to mix (thank you Jake), and one that Miles battled with for a while. 

One of the biggest appeals of the album is its relatability while still maintaining a sense of uniqueness and distinction. Boat is about being stonewalled, 2BIG is about wanting to be treated like a kid in the face of adult responsibility, Glow is about love. 

Though the album was just released last week, See Plus has been performing tracks from the album for months, adding a sense of exclusivity to their live sets that makes them that much more exciting. 2BIG has been in rotation on the band’s live set for a while now, and has been a hit since its debut. The first time I had ever heard it live *finish up*. The live shows always have a special air about them, one that makes fans feel connected to the band and the music they’re playing. 

The band is now on tour for Your Portrait, and kicked off the tour with a house show in New Brunswick on the eve of the album’s release. The basement of the Hammy House was witness to the Your Portrait debut, and it was the perfect stage for it. The set consisted of a full run through of the album, and by the time the set had finished, the clock had struck midnight and the LP was out into the world. It felt like a New Year’s Eve party, and in a way, it was. We all got to be there with the band as they entered a new era of their sound, one that represents them more wholly. 

The band is continuing their tour throughout the fall, hitting everywhere from New Brunwsick, NJ to Connecticut to Vermont and more. You can stream Your Portrait anywhere you get your music, and the band can be found on socials @seeplus and online at https://www.seeplus.band/.