Storm the Sky presents "Sin Will Find You"

It’s there. It’s always there. The demon on your shoulder, the guilt in the pit of your stomach. It finds us all. And the only cure for guilt is ruthless, breathtaking honesty.

Sin Will Find You is the new album from Melbourne’s Storm The Sky, a deeply emotive collection of songs that holds up a powdery mirror to the millennial culture that greedily seduces all comers. But rather moralising from on high, frontman William Jarratt has written from his own personal experience and composed a starkly honest collection of songs about love, cheating, drugs and friendship from the pages of his own diary.

“A lot of the things that I’ve had to go through, most other people have done the same by the time they’re 21,” says Jarratt. “I wanted to point out that everyone does things that will be judged in a negative light by the general public. These topics are generally bleak points of conversation and most people are quick to dismiss or demonise them. This is why we chose the colour blue for the artwork, a colour of comfort that is generally associated with feelings of melancholy. It’s about finding solace in the fact that you’re not alone with your sin, and there are support networks out there to help you through it.

“These songs represent my take on pure, disgusting honesty, and I love that. I feel like I know myself a lot more now.” And knowing oneself in 2016 is to face up to exactly what it is that motivates us, whether noble or beastly. To do so entirely without judgement is almost suicidally brave.

“Sin Will Find You is intentionally 100% based on my life,” the singer continues. “I wanted to write the most open record I could, because I was sick of worrying about what people might think if they knew who I really am. I was holding back so as not to hurt anyone – so much so that I was lying about petty things just to stop people from judging me or disliking something that was inherently part of who I was. Writing it, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.”

The band, completed by guitarists Andy Szetho and Lachlan Avis, bassist Benny Craib and drummer Alex Trail have emerged from the chrysalis of 2015’s Permanence and created an album of exceptional texture and depth that has been painstakingly built from scratch.

A seismic stylistic and artistic step forward, Sin Will Find You saw the quintet choosing to work with producer Samuel K (The Getaway Plan, Closure In Moscow) and putting their talents – and egos – in his hands.

“A week or two into writing of the album, we hit a wall,” remembers Szetho. “Sam made it clear that in order for every member of the band to connect on an emotional and creative level, we had to know every little thing about each other. We went around the room one by one and talked about... everything.”

“That night we left the jam room having learned a whole lot more about each other. This was a vital moment for us. Sam wanted us to use our music as a vehicle to release all the tension of mixed emotions we each had, and even now when I listen back to the record I can hear each person’s personality and struggle so clearly.”

And it’s that sense of exploration, both internal and musical, which gives Sin Will Find You its ashen wings. Take lead single Jaded Ghost, which deals with the aftermath of a crushing breakup, the haunting Medicine or the darkly confessional title track – they are all the work of a band keen to challenge and unsettle, all within a skyscrapingly melodic framework. There’s a directness and power to Storm The Sky that is represented by these dark pop songs, and it’s a darkness that is staring right back.