Anyone curious about the state of Britpop over the last decade would do well to dive into the discography of Circa Waves, who recently released their sixth full-length album, Death & Love Pt. 1.
Forming in Liverpool after its members (lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and original drummer Sian Plummer, eventually replaced by Colin Jones) met at a music festival in 2013, Circa Waves initially created a buzz with fizzy songs like their debut single “Get Away/Good for Me” and follow up, “Stuck in My Teeth”. The band’s earliest work culminated in a successful 2015 debut album, Young Chasers, which spun off another brilliant single, “T-Shirt Weather”, a pop blast that remains their biggest hit.
Since then, Circa Waves have remained a potent pop group unafraid to expand their sound. The result has been a solid six-album discography, showcasing a band that have found their sound but aren’t afraid to tinker with it. That brings us to Death & Love Pt. 1, consolidating the continued their musical and lyrical growth.
Opening with a brief and insistent rocker, “American Dream”, the record hits its stride with the second track, “Like You Did Before”. Panoramic pop with a 1980s techno vibe, “Like You Did Before”, also feels a bit like Harry Styles‘ “As It Was”. Regardless of what previous songs “Like You Did Before” might initially conjure in a listener’s head, the song has a fun vibe all its own, and it’s a worthy addition to Circa Wave’s collection of perfect and near-perfect pop tunes.
From there, the group return to the anthemic mode of “American Dream” with “We Made It”, which feels a bit more like the Alarm than U2 but has an old-school quality either way. These reference points aren’t meant to peg Circa Waves as a nostalgia-mongering band. Songwriter Kieran Shudall might have musical and lyrical touchstones that hit up any number of artists, ranging from a-Ha to the Strokes and beyond, but Circa Waves’ songs are sharp and catchy on their own terms.
Throughout Death and Love Pt. 1, breezy tunes like “Le Bateau” and “Let’s Leave Together” alternate with gorgeous ballads (“Hold It Steady” and “Blue Damselfly”) that further diversify the LP. The penultimate track, “Everything Changed”, is melancholy and mid-tempo but rocks out a bit. The peppy music of the closing track, “Bad Guys Always Win”, seems at odds with the sour lyrics: “Was our love just momentary? / Yeah, I had you down as the one.” The song (and record) end quietly, with Shudall singing, “They say, yeah, the bad guys, they always win.”
Ending with a song called “Bad Guys Always Win” creates a cliffhanger, given that the album is allegedly “Pt. 1” of Death & Love. Time will tell if a Death & Love Pt. 2 sustains the quality that Circa Waves have consistently delivered and if the good guys might win after all. In the meantime, newfound fans who enjoy Death & Love are advised to dive deeply into Circa Waves’ discography while waiting for a sequel. You’ll be glad you did.