The Waves is the enthralling debut album from Leeds-based artist James Whiteley, whose atmospheric blend of subdued dreaminess and soaring guitar-led invigoration invokes a psychedelic nostalgia with shades of Pink Floyd. Thematic contemplations on loss and mortality pair with the melodic instrumentation and vocals. The release, which was inspired partly by a trip to Holy Island in Northumberland, is a commanding success across its six tracks.
Gentle guitar strums and a frequency-like intrigue kicks off opening track “Stormwatch,” a swelling rock instrumental that moves into riveting guitar work that soars with an impassioned fervor. Initially steady in its slabs of sporadic chords and ensuing feedback, the guitars attain a free-flowing expressiveness into the second half — then fading into that otherworldly, frequency-laden ambient pulse.
“Voices from Inside” follows with similarly compelling rock atmospherics, even more dynamic in its infusions of vocal introspection and twinkling piano additions. “Feel the beating of my heart, as tense as a funeral drum,” Whiteley’s vocals let out, exuding a heartfelt sincerity into the title-touting, “searching for some paradise,” central hook — which invokes a psych-friendly character in both Whiteley’s lusher vocal tonal shift and the tender guitar twangs that ensue. The album stirs right away in its opening one-two punch, with the opener’s hard-rocking instrumentation and then the emotively-charged build-up within “Voices from Inside.”
The second half of the album succeeds with three epics, all spanning over nine minutes in length. Not a moment is wasted, though. “Haunted” feels precisely as such, interweaving delicate piano and hazy synth reflections with a chiming, mediative immersion. Acoustic strums enter and give way to moody electric guitar elongation, conjuring shades of Pink Floyd in the developments from “when the pain is too raw,” acoustic-set strums into the rollicking, heady guitar work at mid-point; it’s another structurally gripping output from Whiteley.
Album finale “Falling Under” is another standout. The ascent here is more gradual, traversing from a sense of industrial electronic unease into foreboding guitar work. “There’s nowhere else to go from here,” Whiteley lets out as mellow keys and balmier acoustics take the lead, moving seamlessly into the “tasted sweeter,” gorgeousness with bolstered orchestral undercurrents. The Waves is consistent in showcasing masterful songwriting and ardent guitar performances from James Whiteley.
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“Stormwatch” 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.
