Kelly Kirwan
Fuzzy reverb damn near drips from the speakers on Wae’s latest album, Glimmer. The seven-track EP glints with '70s nostalgia, reveling in hazy psychedelia that mingles easily with the band’s own experimental flair. At the heart of Wae is musician Caleb Moore, who’s carried the group through three metamorphoses before hitting its stride in this most recent roster. Spearheading bass is Beau Cole, with Dan Whitely tackling keys and Eric Rosario holding down the drums. Respectively, these musicians have graced other groups such as Lands & Peoples, Raindeer, Other Colors, and Shinji, making the rounds on the indie circuit before settling into this slinky quartet.
Their music sounds like the gentle ghost of psych-rock’s past, their chords appearing to us in slightly distorted waves like a heat haze in the near distance. In the words of their label, Friends Records, based in Baltimore, “These songs are stream of conscious [sic] diary entries: moods and moments that needed to be exploded, inspected and reformed.” Glimmer has the delicate touch its title may suggest, but it also isn’t afraid of a ragged edge. It’s a sultry, frayed, swerving piece of work that marks up its melodies with crinkling riffs and subtly warped vocals. Even when Glimmer slithers into sedated, introspective interludes, they never let their sound become too primly pretty—they add these opposing garnishes in just the right doses.
Take "Shit Take II," a wry title that sets the tone for their album. Muffled, far-off vocals drift over the melody, which is marked by guitar plucking and a sort of wavering, languid strut. It’s mostly instrumental, with those reverberating strings and a touch of white noise seeping its way into the beat. It ends abruptly, cutting off at the two-minute mark to keep us from the moody trance that would have slowly engulfed us. Not bad for a so-called shit take.
"Too Much" begins with a wash of something reminiscent of an '80s homecoming dance in a science-fiction movie. It’s a song to slow-dance to, likely as mist starts to waft into the gymnasium, to the tune of gleaming guitar strums and a start-and-stop interplay as the track nears its home stretch. "If You Wanna" features Rosario and his deliberate, sauntering percussion. The vocals are, in their signature style, unhurried and kept at a distance, as if we were eavesdropping through an air vent. Wobbly streams are vaguely audible in the background, reminiscent of radio-signal interference, as the melody sways onward.
Glimmer has been compared to the stream of consciousness that’s often found in diary entries, but it’s more akin to a delightful fever dream. A slightly off-kilter landscape that shape shifts with every chord progression, and feels completely natural as we’re engulfed in its beat. These four absolutely click, and they’ve given us a chance to reverberate on their frequency. We hope this new version of Wae is here to stay.