SANTA CLAWS return with their amazing second full length album, Sands of Time. The band formed in 2017 in Ploumagoar, Brittany, France, as a modest three-piece with founder and lead singer Greg Aubert. Now almost a decade into their career, they have evolved into a full-fledged five-piece alternative rock outfit, with Aubert on lead vocals, guitars, and keyboards; guitarists Antoine Montgaudon and Stéphane Kérihuel; bassist Teddy Moisan; and drummer Julien Pinel.
Recording the eight-track album in their private home studio in La Chapelle-Neuve, with Montgaudon mixing it in-house and finishing it on true analog tape with Christophe Chavanon at Studio Kerwax, the ensemble creates an authentic, warm, dynamic rock sound. Their guitars blend the British rock grit of the 1990s with thoughtful stories of solitude, strain, love, and growth, turning personal problems into a timeless message of human perseverance.
The album opens up with immediacy on the first track, Gimme a Minute. Julien Pinel’s pounding percussion, powerful rhythmic bass, and crunchy, overdriven guitars drive the track, creating a quick, hurried pace that reflects the rush of modern life. All three guitars play together to create a thick wall of sound with hard chord progressions and delicate melodies in the background. The song tells the story of someone overwhelmed by incessant noise, daily demands, and pressure from all sides. Its message is a relevant cry to take just sixty seconds to clear your thoughts and rediscover the mental stability needed to keep going.
The second song, Rainy Day, shifts into calm reflection. The music is constructed around a warm, dominant bass line by Teddy Moisan, delicate arpeggio guitar patterns, smooth drum brushwork, and subtle organ touches that create the peaceful atmosphere of a dismal, rainy afternoon. The song is about someone sitting at a window, watching heavy rain clouds gather, bearing the weight of loss and emotional burnout. The song doesn’t present grief as a dreadful defeat; it reminds the audience that dark seasons and low emotions are a natural, necessary part of being human, and encourages us to rest and let the emotional storm pass naturally.
The third track, Two Days Ten Hours, brings with it an air of nervous waiting. Tension rises through the ticking hands of a physical clock in the steady rhythm section, crisp acoustic strums, and interlocking electric guitar patterns that swell into a huge chorus. It tells the story of someone counting hours and minutes until he’s reunited with someone who means the world to him. The song shows how time crawls unbearably slowly while you are separated. It shows that true love and affection make distance weigh heavily but gives us a clear purpose to survive the wait.
That peaceful expectancy evolves into stark terror on the fourth track, “Too Late.” Sudden revelation is brought forth by sharp, aggressive guitar chords, powerful drum accents, and passionate vocals. The song flips between quiet, tight verses and explosive, distorted choruses to convey the narrator’s internal conflict. The story follows a man in the immediate aftermath of a squandered chance, knowing he lost an essential relationship because of his silence, fear, or pride. Here, the band’s message is clear: if you wait to have real conversations, you’ll live with regret forever, because time won’t stop for someone who keeps their truth to themselves.
Surrender is the record’s five-minute centerpiece, a drastic shift in sound and theme. With cathedral-like guitar tones and warm, long-held organ chords, Stéphane Kérihuel and the rest of the three-guitar lineup interlace delicate chosen notes and huge distorted swells. It’s about that moment when a tired person finally decides to lay down their arms in an emotional war, to let go of old grudges and toxic pride. The song conveys that surrender is not a loss, but a heroic act of self-love that lets go of the agony of the past to find true freedom and happiness.
The sixth track, Tattoo Me, picks things back up, returning to an explosive alternative rock style with brilliant guitar hooks and a lively bassline. Classic nineties rock grit with a catchy, bouncy pop framework that pushes on with positive momentum. The story compares our past choices, heartbreaks, achievements, and life lessons to permanent marks etched on our skin in invisible ink. The idea is to wear our personal scars proudly, not shamefully. Every mark we have in our history is a badge of honor that shows we survived and grew as individuals.
The seventh song, Rescue Me, acknowledges that real recovery involves help from others, and starts as an intimate acoustic piece before building layer by layer into a screaming, anthemic conclusion with full drumming, layered vocals, and soaring electric guitar solos. The story follows someone who gets in over their head, understands their limits, and then intentionally decides to ask for help. The song tears down the idea that we need to do everything on our own, proving that asking a trusted friend or partner for help isn’t a mark of weakness but a powerful act of faith and self-knowledge.
The album closes with its last tune, Grain of Sand, which brings a tranquil ending. Captured live to tape with lush acoustic strumming and soft percussion, the arrangement wipes away the harsh distortion to emphasize the raw voice tones and peaceful atmosphere. The narrative follows a person standing on the brink of the ocean, staring out over the infinite water and realizing how small one human life is among billions on the shore. Ultimately, it leaves listeners with a deep sense of serenity: even if we feel small in the grand flow of time, every individual matters and plays a special, vital part in the whole universe.
To summarize, Sands of Time is a mature, genuinely affecting alternative rock album that blends the raw energy of 1990s indie with honest human emotions. SANTA CLAWS takes life’s darkest seasons and makes them a rewarding listening experience by blending simple, accessible storytelling with massive triple-guitar compositions and true analog recording. The album is a strong reminder that time never stops, but our collective strength, the power to forgive, and the bonds we share remain through every season of life.
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