Beach Sloth

Waves on Canvas - Into the Northsea 7.0

                Waves on Canvas achieve something admirable on ‘Into the Northsea’: a stylistically varied piece of work that is emotionally consistent. This contains a concern degree of hope. Every song possesses this little glimmer of hope. Instruments are picked not only for their tenderness but for their ability to expand upon this idea further. Male and female vocalists elaborate on the themes as well. 

                Mellow is a good word for the whole album. Songs on here simply float on by in a pleasant summery haze. A few times they veer into hyperactivity: Stella has a crazed hyperactive ending and ‘Flowers on the Sea’ feels like some long lost Four Tet piece. In fact, much of this borrows from the folktronica scene. The mixture of the electronic and acoustic is too great to be a mere accident. By far my favorite though is the driving piece ‘Starfish’ which combines all their interests into a perfect track. On ‘Starfish’ they remind me of an early Autolux track scrubbed of aggression. This is a wonderful track as the little electronic details drive it forward. By the end when it surrenders to the drum machine it feels earned, like the break of character was utterly necessary. 

At first it may come across as too sweet. Give it time. It is refreshing to hear a band so sincere in its beliefs. There is not a trace of irony in these twelve tracks. Waves on Canvas make completely honest music. Have this seep into your daily routine. Listen with the sun glowing brightly above you.