Day Wave reconnects with sonic roots on new EP ‘Crush’

Returning since his debut album in 2017, Day Wave has released new four-track EP ‘Crush’.

The California-based musician, aka Jackson Phillips, has picked up the guitar once again as the critically acclaimed one-man indie band is back bigger and stronger than ever.

Crush reveals a newfound vocal dynamism from Phillips, whose steady growth as a performer lends an understated weight to EP’s emotional soul searching. Written and recorded after an extended break, the new collection finds Day Wave reconnecting with his sonic roots as he grapples with questions of identity and purpose, fate and independence, memory and nostalgia.

The lead single ‘Starting Again’ floats on a bed of arpeggiated guitars and lush synthesizers as it walks the line between hopeful optimism and wistful melancholia. It’s classic Day Wave with the effect-heavy guitars and brimming with emotion.

‘Potions’ showcases mesmerising arrangements that have long been a trademark of the Day Wave sound. It has a similar thought process to hit single ‘Drag’ where it has a light and bouncy guitar beat and the chorus sounds almost identical.

“It’s easy to feel isolated, like your thoughts don’t matter or that you’ll never be good enough, but writing these songs was my way of trying to rid myself of those toxic ideas and open myself up to a better way of living. It was my way of trying to figure out who I really was.” – Day Wave

Third track ‘Empty’ brings out that lo-fi and toned down approach. The story behind the track is about someone who is hurting whilst pushing people away at the same time. “My eyes are empty now / But I don’t want you feeling the same / Just stay away, my soul is empty now / But I don’t want you feeling the same”.

Title-track ‘Crush’ is a true testament to Day Wave’s where he has experimented with a different sound an old Acrosonic piano. The four songs are built on a structural simplicity that belies their considerable emotional depth, and the arrangements are lo-fi and dreamy to match, conveying gooey and delicious intimacy.

Day Wave produced, mixed, and mastered the entire EP himself in his new home in Los Angeles, and the end result is a raw, unfiltered look in the mirror from an artist determined to share his evolution in all its beautiful, bittersweet truth.

Listen below now and purchase Crush here.