Joywave ‘How Do You Feel Now?’

How do I feel now? Epic, Joywave, I feel epic. I feel like summer is here and I’m driving down the seafront with ten mates in the boot on the way to a rave on Canvey Island. Thanks for asking. But let’s get back to the album, that’s why we’re here.

I've been listening to it repeatedly in the car and it turns out its perfect car music. Big, bad, bass-y, fast, and the kids recognise one of the tunes ‘Tongues’ from FIFA so thumbs up from everybody.

This is a collection of eleven electro indie bangers, but with enough variation in each track for it not to sound all boring and samey. Some songs stand out less than others and I’m not overly keen on the tempo shifts on ‘Feels like a Lie’ which just dips up and down a bit too much for me. But maybe that’s in part down to being stuck in a jam on the way to the pool with three small ones in the back. In the dance tent at a festival this would have a different feel altogether.

There are some absolute blinders on this album, in whole it feels like a wide range of musicality and inspirations has been melded together to create something new, and at times I’m not even sure if we’re still on the A-road we started on, or off pottering along down some winding country lane. It’s a record that throws up some decent little surprises, even going a teeny bit Public Service Broadcaster-y at the start of ‘Destruction’.

I love the pure, sweet sound of ‘Carry Me’ and the light synth poppiness of it all, which is a bit of a shift after the almost radioactive album opener and first single release ‘Somebody New’. That’s certainly an infectious little piece, and I know I’ll have it in my head for days. To go back to where we started, I feel there’s just about the right amount of epicness to ensure that when I need a little power boost next time I’m motionless on the motorway, this will be the first one I reach for.

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Words by Mary Long

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