A long-time favorite music act of mine is Los Angeles-based duo Ships Have Sailed. Comprised of singer-songwriter and musician Will Carpenter and drummer Art Andranikyan, together they play an incredibly pleasing style of alternative pop-rock featuring beautiful melodies, intelligent, uplifting lyrics, outstanding arrangements and instrumentation, and sublime vocals. They’ve released a lot of music since 2013, including three albums, three EPs and many singles. I’ve loved all their music and have written about them numerous times on this blog over the past five years. (You can read some of those reviews by clicking on the ‘Related’ links at the end of this post.) Several of their songs have appeared on my Weekly Top 30 chart, with two of them – “Escape” in 2019 and “Breathe” in 2021, going all the way to #1.

On January 21st, the guys dropped their latest single “Find My Way“, a beautiful, heartwarming song written at the request of an English woman they’d met some time ago while on tour in the U.K., and who wanted help telling her personal story of an epic trip she took across America with her now-deceased husband. Will elaborates on the song and its creation: “‘Find My Way’ is a story of profound love, profound loss, and the journey of finding yourself again. Despite that, this song isn’t a sad one – it’s a note of gratitude for the moments we do have and the memories that are created from our time here on earth, the people we get to know while we’re here and the relationships that grow more and more special with every moment. This song is dedicated to our dear friend who we met on tour a few years ago in the U.K., and to her late husband who we never had the chance to meet. Two soul mates whose love was palpable, they dreamed of taking a once-in-a-lifetime road trip across the U.S. and finally did after years of planning. But shortly after they returned, he passed away unexpectedly. This song is our tribute to them and to holding your loved ones close.”

The song was written by Will, who co-produced it with Dan Sadin, mixed by Fernando Reyes and mastered by John Greenham. It’s really lovely, with a buoyant, toe-tapping groove overlain with layers of slightly twangy strummed guitars and a gentle, galloping beat that lend the song more of a folk vibe than a lot of their music. The soothing background synths and clicking percussion sounds add interesting texture to the proceedings, making for a richer and more complex overall sound, and the wonderful soaring choruses call to mind some of the great songs by OneRepublic.

As always, Will’s arresting vocals are beautiful, conveying both strength of conviction and a heartfelt vulnerability as he sings the poignant lyrics: “Memories of trips we’ve taken, all the things we’ve seen. Thousands of the miles we traveled, chasing down our dreams. Thought the road was never ending, we’d have the rest of time. Reached the end without a warning, I guess we missed the sign.”

The sweet video features moments from Will and Art’s own stories, captured by photographer Andrei Duman, as well as personal photos provided by their friends to whom the song is dedicated. The visual treatments and typography were created by Jody Talmadge.

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Find their music on Bandcamp / Spotify / Soundcloud / Apple Music / YouTube / Pandora/ Amazon