Death & Love Pt. 1, the sixth album from Liverpool pop-rock quartet Circa Waves, does not even remotely sound like a reflection upon a life-threatening experience: the 2023 discovery and treatment of a heavily clogged main artery of frontman Kieran Shudall’s heart.
Rather than a reflection, it’s a nine-song response of joie de vivre as death defiance. Shudall’s reedy voice and wide-eyed expressiveness make him a musical younger brother to Waterboys leader Mike Scott, and with a concomitantly similar interest in squeezing more juice from the fruits of decades-old UK rock styles.
The very first song, “American Dream,” casts sidelong glances to another Liverpool foursome that found good fortune after touching down in New York City, although Shudall’s own dream feels more directly personal as he loses himself among the crowds and he and Joe Falconer crank up their guitars to hangar-filling chimes a la pre-electronic Editors.
In the main, Circa Waves elaborates upon the potential represented and often squandered by Britpop bands during the mid- to late 1990s. The cleaned-and-polished folk feeling of “Blue Damselfly,” the echoing sunniness of “We Made It,” and jerky bounce of “Bad Guys Always Win” hint at Oasis and Blur sans obnoxiousness or Kinks/Beatles rip-offs.
At the center of the album, “Hold It Steady” and “Let’s Leave Together” display the band’s deliberately contemporary, deliberately poppy facets, given a soft sheen by Shudall’s thoughtful production.
Bassist Sam Rourke and drummer Sian Plummer (back in the band after his 2015 departure from it) provide rhythmic support that is both largely unshowy and unmissably necessary, lending Shudall the confidence to try any melodic hook he pleases.
Pleasure seems to be Shudall’s idea of reflecting upon a brush with death. Love is clearly the more important force on Death & Love Pt. 1, and it encourages curiosity about a second part.
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Get Death & Love Pt. 1 at Amazon here.
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