reviews / 2022

AIR WAVES - The Dance

Name: AIR WAVES – The Dance
Item: The Dance
Rating: 6.5
Author: Gianfranco Marmoro

2022 (Fire)

indie-pop

by Gianfranco Marmoro

6.5

For Nicole Schneit and Air Waves, the moment of truth has arrived. After a series of engaging indie-pop collections with not entirely defined contours, "The Dance" - a title inspired by a live club in New York that recently closed its doors – gives the alt-pop outfit the chance to put every piece in its right place.

The American band's album seals a new record deal with Fire Records and opens the door to outside collaborations: Cass Mccombs, Skyler Skjelset (Fleet Foxes, Beach House), Luke Temple, Brian Betancourt (Hospitality, Sam Evian), Rina Mushonga, Frankie Cosmos. It also benefits from the support of Dan Deacon, a true architect of the conceptual shift that sees the group favor lusher, more refined atmospheres that bring out the best in their minimal-pop charms.

"The Dance" is the most varied, or least one-note if you prefer, album by Air Waves. Credit goes to more mature songwriting, but also to sharing vocal duties with some of the aforementioned guests.

Luke Temple and Rina Mushonga actually have an easy task, being involved in the most engaging song of the bunch, "The Roof", a pop tune that blends the harmonies of Fleetwood Mac with echoes of the later Martha & The Muffins albums. Tougher is the task handed to Cass McCombs, grappling with the soporific languor of "Alien", while Frankie Cosmos and Merce Lemon cleverly soften the dark weave of "Black Metal Demon", wrapping its sparse notes in a warm noir embrace.

Delightful, more markedly pop-leaning flashes of inspiration — the melancholy disco-pop of "Wait", the delicate waltz of the title track and the ethereal stomp-rock of "The Light" — confirm Air Waves' knack for turning slight songs into multifaceted, shimmering melodies, easy to listen to yet never dull for a single moment.

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20/09/2022

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Gianfranco Marmoro, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition