Album Review: Hideaway by Wavves
Wavves is an indie rock band based out of San Diego. Wavves came to light in 2008 with Nathan Williams and Ryan Ulsh, but Ryan eventually left the band in the early years. They hit mainstream success with their third studio project (and one of my favorites), King of the Beach. Wavves now comes out with their seventh studio project titled Hideaway.
The first track from the project is Thru Hell. The track opens up exactly how I would expect, with the signature Wavves guitar sound, as well as some running guitar lines in the background. We also get our usual vocals from Nathan. It’s an okay track, but I’ve heard better from the singles that were released earlier in the year. Based on the title and the lyrics of the track, it seems like he isn’t going through a good time at the moment.
We finally get to the title track, Hideaway. This was one of the singles I checked out for the project and got me excited for this project. The guitars and drums are pretty simplistic to start out, but it eventually branches out later on in the track. We even get some guitar solos thrown in on the track. If we go off from the previous track, this could be a continuation since he talks about hiding away from all the terrible things or bs that’s going on in his life.
Help is on the Way was an interesting track for me, at least with how quiet it opened up, and the less enthusiastic vocals that came with the opening. The track eventually gets back to their roots, but it made me think of what the rest of the album was going to bring. The small backing vocals are nice for a change since we didn’t really get to hear that on the first few tracks of the project. I’m just glad that the track builds up from the beginning.
Sinking Feeling was strange to hear this type of sound from Wavves for awhile, but it gave me a beach vibe which is somewhat reminiscent of King of the Beach. It opens up with a regular acoustic guitar, but then we have other guitars that start to add different layers to the track. Nathan’s vocals also sound a lot quieter and lighter compared to his usual vocals. Other than that, he talks about a wave of depression that keeps coming back.
Honeycomb marks the longest track for the album, just over four minutes in length. The track is pretty quiet from the start with Nathan’s vocals and some simple guitar beats. We get some more guitar parts added and the drum beat, but there isn’t much more added, until about the halfway point of the track. It gets a little louder and we have Nathan’s rougher vocals. On this track, Nathan talks about how he has to try to pretend like he’s okay, even though he feels like he’s dying.
The Blame opens up with a western-like guitar part. Once the guitar part introduces us to the track, we get a very fast-paced track. The drum part is quick and it almost seems like the vocals are sped up to match the tempo of this track. As I’ve stated on some of the previous tracks, I’m just not a fan of the toned down vocals. Not really getting much from the lyrics of this track, other than that he seems to take the blame for most things.
Marine Life is a short, two-minute track, but it is reminiscent of some of Wavves older material, which is nice to hear. You get your quick and energetic guitars, and Nathan is back with his regular singing style. It’s a bit disappointing that it isn’t longer, but it’s enough to give me that classic sound of theirs. Other than that, it seems like he’s happy with this one person and he has this special feeling whenever he’s with her.
Planting a Garden takes a complete turn, at least for the first half minute of the track. With the light guitars and soft singing vocals, it makes you think that he reverted back to some of the softer tracks on this project. However, it eventually comes with the louder guitars and singing during the chorus. Throughout the track, he talks about his person Suzy who is planting a garden. Nathan hates that she loves him for what she think he is.
The final track on the project is Caviar which I was not a fan of when I first heard it. I also was not expecting it for a closer to this project. It opens up with some quiet synths lulls, drumbeat, and guitars. And as I stated before, Nathan’s lighter side of singing which is just not meshing so well with the tracks. Just digging through the lyrics, it seems like he’s finally letting go, and only going back to this person if he wants to.
I was expecting a longer project and to have some familiar sounding tracks. I guess it’s not bad that they’re branching out, but definitely not something I’ll listen to often.
Overall Rating: 6/10
Favorite Tracks: Hideaway, Sinking Feeling, Marine Life
Originally published at https://www.lazymusicguru.com
