California indie band Wavves is set to release a new album called Hideaway on July 16 via Fat Possum. They also shared a single from the record called “Help is on the Way.” It’s the second song to be released from it after “Sinking Feeling,” which came out in late March.
“Help is on the Way” is a catchy track most centered around the repetition of the song’s title as a hook. It does have a couple of brief verses with lines like “I gotta get away/From the things that mean to bring me pain/The snakes they don’t surprise me” and seems to be about changing routines to avoid things that cause negative feelings. Instrumentally, it’s an upbeat song with a garage-rock guitar tone and repetitive power chords. The rhythm section makes sure to keep the energy going strong throughout the tune.
Although both new songs have been sonically upbeat, “Help is on the Way” and “Sinking Feeling” show Wavves tackling heavy emotions lyrically. “Sinking Feeling” was stated to be about “that sinking feeling that drags you down and no matter what you do or where you go it follows you.” Frontman Nathan Williams commented on the themes of their new album, “It’s real peaks and valleys with me. I can be super optimistic and I can feel really good, and then I can hit a skid and it’s like an earthquake hits my life, and everything just falls apart. Some of it is my own doing, of course.”
Wavves has released seven studio albums so far, including Wavves (2008), Wavvves (2009), their breakout album King of the Beach (2010), Afraid of Heights (2013), their Cloud Nothings collaboration No Life for Me (2015), V (2015) and their previous album You’re Welcome (2017). Their last release was technically the two-song Emo Christmas EP they shared during the holiday season in 2018. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of King of the Beach, Wavves reissued the album last year on vinyl.
They had been with Fat Possum for Wavvves and King of the Beach, but left to release Afraid of Heights and V through Warner. You’re Welcome was self-released on Williams’ Ghost Ramp. Now, they have returned to Fat Possum. Hideaway was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, and is said to be about “what happens when you get old enough to take stock of the world around you and realize that no one is going to save you but yourself, and even that might be a tall order.”
Hideaway Tracklist:
1. Thru Hell
2. Hideaway
3. Help Is On the Way
4. Sinking Feeling
5. Honeycomb
6. The Blame
7. Marine Life
8. Planting a Garden
9. Caviar
Photo credit: Sharon Alagna
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