Dark Waves are a welcome addition to the ever current genre of indie-pop. Basking in their own L.A. drenched stylings, they draw notable comparisons to bands such as The Neighbourhood and Bad Suns. However, that’s not to say that they aren’t without originality. Their latest self titled offering brings much to the somewhat overstocked indie table and they are well worth their place within the current crop of guitar-wielding, drum machine-bothering alt bands.
Echoing out of L.A is Nick Long’s mesmerising solo effort Dark Waves. Brooding, personally engaging lyrics and top notch production peg Dark Waves as a welcome addition to the indie-pop pantheon.
The EP opens up with The Heartbeat The Soul. A simple, no frills riff slides in after the now mandatory 26 seconds of keys. However, when said riff does eventually fall into the track, it points to all the right places. Coxon-esque in its delivery, it doesn’t fail to impress. Lyrics can make or break a song. Luckily for Dark Waves, the opening lines of “Wash, wash me off your hands/Don’t talk just because you can” genuinely make this song right from the get go. Although a simple pop song, the detail doesn’t go unnoticed. Right down the pizzicato strings which romp around in the far background, this is an impressive piece of production.
The second track on display is the brooding I Don’t Wanna Be In Love which perhaps is a little lacking in imagination for the song title, but still nevertheless a very good song. Here’s where comparisons to The Neighbourhood come into play. By no means is this a bad thing, but for Dark Waves to seriously make a lasting impact, they must generate something more.
Thankfully, that comes in the form of sparsely decorated Echo. An extremely delicate song, laden with emotive and meaningful lyrics. “Only the lonely love” is called out into the desolation of the track. One could argue that it’s a lyric like this that will win Dark Waves critical acclaim and not the throwaway drum beats that will be unfashionable in 5 years time.
The EP is brought to a close by the acoustic driven All Away. Pulsing strings and timpani rolls add definition and again with hauntingly real lyrics such as “I know that I’ll save my soul, even if it breaks my heart,” Dark Waves allow themselves to be defined in their own right. If they can really focus in on this side of their song writing, then Dark Waves will become big players in the next batch of bands.
A worthwhile listen and a strong EP on all fronts, perhaps the glimpses of individuality which shine through will be magnified on their debut album.
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