Waveland is a stirring album from Georgia-based band Nero Simon and the Sunsetters. A melodic arsenal of folk, Americana, and rock traverse across a laid-back yet emotive charm, paying homage to perseverance through tough times — and the small coastal town of Waveland, Mississippi especially, which suffered near total destruction in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina.
“The residents along the Mississippi coast lost everything and were determined to rebuild,” says lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter Nero Simon. “For someone like myself who’s experienced a good deal of personal devastation over the last 10 years, that kind of fighting spirit was really inspiring to me when writing songs for the album.”
The opening “Sail On Silver Girl” is a compelling opener that sets the inviting, nostalgic soundscape that is Waveland. “They say the water’s muddy, though the fish don’t seem to mind,” the vocals depict alongside comforting guitar trickles and light piano. “You’ve been away for far too long,” the vocals call out, embracing the comfort of the past while also encouraging a forward-looking search for “home again.” The subsequent “Mermaids of Key West” furthers that Coastal Americana appeal, with visions of a Saturday night into a harmonious central hook with surf-y appeal.
A more extensive narration allures on “Soldier of Fortune,” reassuring within a hypnotic aesthetical folk sound into a warming lyrical ethos: “Always be a soldier of fortune, roll with whatever comes your way.” The track plays like an antidote to the worried mind, acknowledging pains and sadness, though also emphasizing that dwelling on “the sins of yesterday,” and ruminating on the past isn’t very productive. It’s a beautiful thematic and melodic outpouring from the project, which captures the perseverant spirit of residents in and around Waveland, Mississippi.
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“Soldier of Fortune” and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup, as part of the artist’s promotional campaign.
