This album starts off with “Something Here”. I love the very triumphant feel to this intro, with these guitars coming off strangely huge. It picks up quickly though, ushering in that great Day Wave sound. Day Wave has this fantastic way of taking these very dreamy atmospheres and giving them just enough kick. As far as the vocals go, these are some of his least cloudy yet, almost to the point that they’re sort of leaning in the pop direction sort of. But it comes off so nicely. Jackson Phillips has come so far as writing a hook goes, cause this track is absolutely HUGE. “Something Here” remains very upbeat and sweet, but it’s also lighthearted and easy to take in. It’s a joyous single, one that Day Wave can comfortable be known by. And most importantly, in a way this really sort of takes all of the tracks we heard on Day Wave’s early EP’s and summarizes them nicely. “Home” however sadly gives me a bad taste right off the bat. The atmosphere here sounds so lopsided, like Jackson almost didn’t put this one into perspective. What I’ve always loved about Day Wave is the way he would make these very dreamy tracks upbeat and fresh sounding. Immediately, “Home” is not that. This is WAY too dreamy for my liking and not nearly as enjoyable. This one ends up coming off like one of the most boring tracks of the last few M83 albums. There are some decent sounds on this one too, for example I love the winding guitars and bass, as well as the very shimmering synths after the chorus. But as far as Jackson’s performance goes, this seriously is a little disappointing for me. Not to mention, this chorus is one of the most boring I’ve heard all year. Then we have “Ordinary” which while it doesn’t completely wow me is still a huge step up. An awkward step up, but a step up nonetheless. I certainly like the much more electronic feel to this one, and the synths are great as well. But I have two major issues with this one. Firstly, the atmosphere is not up to par with Day Wave’s usual output. It’s not a bad one, but this atmosphere here just comes off like an afterthought and seriously unfinished. My other major issue is once again Jackson’s performance. No, I wouldn’t say “Ordinary” is a bad track, but there’s nothing about this that tells me I’m listening to a Day Wave track. This genre is so deep and contains so many sub-genres that Day Wave could conquer so easily, but here Day Wave sound like the majority of their contemporaries. I do like some of the later vocal moments however, and while I didn’t completely go nuts for this I can still totally understand why someone would dig this. Thankfully, Jackson begins to turn things around with “Untitled”. The opening synth line here give me the chills every time. Instantly, i feel like Day Wave actually put genuine heart and soul into creating this very sweet and interesting atmosphere. Vocally, this is much more in the right direction, and actually leads to some of the better harmonies I’ve heard from Jackson here. I can’t stress enough just how much these upbeat tracks really set Day Wave apart. Listening to tracks like “Untitled” seriously gives me so much hope for this project, and while I still see a lot of influence from Day Wave’s contemporaries, I really feel like this stands out majorly. Plus, some of those synths towards the finale are just so epic and triumphant sounding.
Up next is “Bloom”, and this track has a major issue. On earlier tracks I felt like Jackson Phillips wasn’t putting as much effort into these atmospheres. But here, I feel like he has the exact opposite problem. On “Bloom”, Phillips has gone so far with creating this very dreamy atmosphere that he sounds like he’s lost himself in it. Once some of the instrumentals pop in later, I feel like this track starts to work a whole lot more. But to be perfectly honest, I feel like this track really didn’t need his breathy sights in the background. This actually would have been better off as full instrumental, and the vocals really throw me off. Thankfully, Jackson pulls himself together for “On Your Side”, which to every extent is exactly what I want to hear from Day Wave. The very dreamy pop atmosphere here is strong, but the acoustic guitar on this as well as the very upbeat vibe makes this one so much more level headed. Day Wave honestly have begun to do well in writing pop songs, because as far as hooks go Jackson’s gone above and beyond in creating some of the biggest melodies he’s ever touched. “On Your Side” is beautiful, but stays determined completely. Now, when it comes to slower tracks with Day Wave, they usually worry me. But to be honest, “Bring You Down” for a slow track really doesn’t come off too bad. It’s not as enjoyable as some of the more upbeat tracks here, but this could have easily been a track so hazy and dreamy that it got lost in its own atmosphere. Here, Jackson at the very least has brought in his more driving instrumentals, including some of the heaviest guitars we’ve heard here in an attempt to not lose his audience. It certainly works, even though I certainly would have enjoyed a little more of an upbeat track, which is still clearly his strength. But if Day Wave is gonna bring a few slower tracks to the table, this is certainly a good template. Then we have tracks like “Wasting Time” which instantly come off as wonderful. Day Wave have really mastered this sound, I can’t get over just how much Jackson Phillips has take the time to focus on melodies. I don’t want to repeat myself here because “Wasting Time” is certainly great, but this one shares a whole lot of the same qualities as earlier tracks here. But I will say this, Day Wave’s strength lies in these much more up front instrumentals that keep the dreamy atmosphere from not getting too powerful.
“Promises” is by far the most upbeat tracks on this entire album, and to be honest it’s one of the most memorable tracks here. It’s got some of the more pop moments, but in a weird way there’s almost a post punk sort of feel here as well. There are plenty of memorable lyrics and some of Jackson’s sweetest sentiments of the entire album. It’s bouncy, but at the same time, there’s almost a sort of edge to it or at least a dark side, as Jacksons dives into the apocalypse and other topics. It works great though, and offers up a completely different side to Day Wave that we haven’t see yet. “Promises” is one of the most up front tracks here, it seems like it has such a purpose, and I love that. But then, Day Wave have to give us another slow track in the form of “Disguise”, and this is certainly exactly what I was worried about. Here, these very twinkling synths are nice, but I feel like this track is coming off as some awful DooWop revival. And no, it’s as bad as it sounds. Remember all of those sweet sentiments I talked about in Day Wave’s lyrics earlier? Well here, they come off seriously nauseating and empty hearted. Between all of the and this very sluggish pace, I’ve so desperate for something exciting or or this one to speed up. “Disguise” is not good at all. For our finale here, “I’m Still Here’ ends this one off with another dreamy and slow ballad. I feel like vocally and lyrically this is soooo much more enjoyable, and it’s actually really sweet so that deserves some points. But instrumentally this one has me fighting to stay away. And while I do like a lot of elements on this track and I think Day Wave can certainly can write a ballad, this track is a little too dreamy for me.
Rating: 7.2/10
Give A Listen To: “Something Here”, “Untitled”, “On Your Side”, “Promises”
Overall Thoughts: I feel like Day Wave hiccuped a bit on this album. When I heard "Something Here" I got so excited for this album, and can you blame me? Jackson Phillips on this album has seriously gone in a poppier direction, and for the most part it comes off really nicely. Hell, these are easily some of the best hooks and melodies he has come up with. However, that dreamy atmosphere Day Wave has is tricky, as sometimes it comes off too light and sometimes way too heavy. Overall, this is a solid introduction to Day Wave's music.
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