Over time, you come to learn to accept that bands come and go. It doesn’t mean that you don’t feel a certain sadness when another band you’ve enjoyed call it a day, but there’s always another exciting new band emerging – right? And so it is that I only occasionally feel any significant pangs on hearing the news that a band is drawing the curtain on their time. War Waves’s announcement in 2020 was one of those occasions for me.
The band had landed an absolutely explosive eponymous debut, and followed up with a really solid and mature second album. Both are packed with unflinchingly open and emotionally charged lyrics and more than once I drew comparisons to The Twilight Sad in my reviews.
Signing off with an EP that contained their best work to date, led by the immensely powerful ‘Lion’s Head’ made their departure even more difficult to swallow: this was a band at their absolute peak in creative terms, and who deserved an audience what would see them playing Academy-size venues. But it was not to be and they’re one of the few bands I’ve been one hundred per cent committed to keeping an ear out for any subsequent projects.
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And so it is that Marc Newby, songwriter and lyricist behind the band has unveiled ‘Dead Weight’, the first song from his album-in-progress.
Pleasingly, while manifesting as a simple acoustic song, it features all of the hallmarks of his previous work, presenting bleak, troubled lyrics that tackle depression head on, delivered with a reflective tone and with a compelling, melody. Combining the best elements of The Smiths and The Twilight Sad, it really does have some real emotional pull. It’s beautiful, but not easy listening by any stretch.
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