I hadn’t heard of the indie pop band Weaves until recently, but I’m glad I checked out their newest album, “Wide Open.”
The album starts with “#53,” a drum-heavy song that introduces the album very well. It’s about a woman trying to find herself while also dealing with relationships.
The lyrics, “I don’t wanna think about you again / I don’t wanna dream about you again / I know I’m gonna cry about you again,” are repeated several times throughout the song, and as the instrumentals change, her tone seems to change from a plea to a statement.
The next song, “Slicked,” is very ’80s-pop-sounding. Since it’s all about getting ready, it is a quintessential song to pump you up in the morning.
The album continues with a few more pop songs, including “La La,” which is probably my favorite song on the album. The vocalist sings in an offbeat rhythm that I don’t often hear, but the outcome sounds really neat.
The album then slows down quite a bit with the title song, “Wide Open.” It’s nothing new or amazing, but it’s still nice to listen to as a great midpoint to the album.
On any given album, there are usually a couple songs I don’t like, but can still see how other people would enjoy them. This is not the case with “Scream.”
Like the song’s title suggests, “Scream” has weird gibberish and guttural screams that sound awful in the background. The song would be pretty good without those noises, but they happen so frequently throughout the song that I can’t just ignore it.
The next song, “Gasoline,” is unlike its name because it’s a slow burn. It’s more grungy than the first half of the album, and it steadily gets louder and faster as the song goes on, which is really cool.
This idea is continued with “Grass,” which sounds like more of a ’90s or early 2000s pop song.
The album ends with “Puddle,” which starts out with just the vocalist and an acoustic guitar. “It’s never a choice when the light in your life starts to die / I’m giving a voice to the person you saw in my eyes.” Halfway through, the electric guitar and drums barrel in. I love when songs do this, and this song was no different.
“Puddle” was a great ending to the “Wide Open” album, and I can’t wait to see what Weaves does next.
Monica Brich is a junior in mass communications writing on behalf of KSDB, Kansas State’s student-run radio station. The views and opinions expressed in this review are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian or KSDB. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com and visit ksdbfm.org for more reviews.
