Wave Break throw themselves into the fire.

Last spring, New Jersey band Wave Break dropped “Spark,” the first single from Ignite//Decay, out today. “Spark,” “Call Me Cynical” and now “Embers” gave us a pretty good taste of how Wave Break has grown in the past couple of years having gone from one woman band to four piece but now we have more of a complete picture.

While I did quite enjoy both “Call Me Cynical” and “Spark” individually they stand much stronger in full context. Usually, I don’t really want to hear track one before an official release but “Cynical’s” fade-in opening, and huge instrumentation make it a great intro choice. Whereas “Spark” has a more optimistic outlook on the lyrical themes and is a nice toss up later on. If you had not heard track one and instead came from final single “Embers” then hearing it as track two must really be a treat.


At five tracks and only around fifteen minutes I’m quite impressed with how varied Ignite//Decay is as an EP. “Call Me Cynical,” as said above, has large-scale riffs and production and feels very modern alternative. The following “couple of tracks are a prog and pop punk brew and allow us a map to the bands these four are looking back to for influence. “Spark” feels snug yet radically different, this one is much more pop punk motivated, has infectious rock melodies and have an instrumental you really have to stand up for.


The titular themes of the EP, ignition as drive, and decay as burnout, are all well laid out in sequence. The first two tracks talk about confidence, specifically in defense of adversaries but then give way to feeling a pressure to keep momentum. “Lost in Limbo” is the most telling of Kelly’s headspace conceiving these ideas; her melodies are more distressed and nearly every other line is some form of self-depreciation. “Spark” follows and is a beacon of hope among it all. Still, I think the track which gets me the most is “Wither Away.” Here Kelly expresses worry of falling out of relevancy, something I can certainly understand but feels silly just having listened to this in its completed form. Wave Break is not a new band but they are fresh in the eyes of an audience who only now have this EP and a cover to go off of how they play as a unit. Everyone who creates worries about burning out, but I think for now Wave Break are only getting started, I have no worry of them keeping the flames alive.


Stream Ignite//Decay

"Embers" can be heard on the AsterTracks Spotlight playlist

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