Following frontman Kieran Shudall’s near-death experience (a main artery in his heart was severely blocked), Circa Waves make a welcome return with their sixth album ‘Death & Love Pt. 1. It’s a record Kieran said he needed to make to process his experience and recovery – and also to ‘make kids in their bedroom pick up a guitar and believe they can take on the fucking world’.
‘American Dream’ opens with a ‘Black Parade’-style bombast as Kieran fondly recalls a visit to the city that never sleeps: ‘If all goes well, I won’t be coming home’. ‘Like You Did Before’ continues with this NYC theme as Strokes-style guitar work surrounds lustful longing: ‘I want you for myself’. ‘We Made It’ continues with a breezy and celebratory tone, especially in the delivery of the words ‘Yeah, we made it’.
‘Le Bateau’ is frantic and fun as Kieran recalls falling for someone – ‘It’s true, I only wanna leave with you’ – while ‘Hold It Steady’ (we hope that’s a reference to the world’s greatest rock and roll band?) has a slower start that captures the desire in the lyrics: ‘If I count to 10 and close my eyes, maybe I’ll be yours tonight’.
‘Everything Changed’ is more inward-looking as Kieran talks about wanting to ‘paint the town as the saddest sound follows you’ and how ‘I see hope like a boy lost at sea’. There’s return to the potent power-pop energy – at odds with the title – on the closing ‘Bad Guys Always Win’.
‘Death & Love Pt. 1’ is a record that celebrates what it means to be – and feel – alive.
