EP Review: Waves

Waves is a brand new 4-song EP from Emily Riordan. Waves was mastered beautifully by Sam Johnson at Rhythm Ace Studio.

The beats on this release are by SHXSHI who obviously has a deep yet refined knowledge of which beats and breakbeats are in current vogue.

The opening tune Angel begins with chords on keyboards and guitar strummed and left for a bar, while a scratchy needle on vinyl sound builds up before the percussion begins. Angel has space, atmosphere and time, three things easily related to the qualities of an angel, one would think.

The second song Breathe builds in a similar way to Angel, albeit quicker in tempo, and reaches the chorus faster. Vocals on this track feature many effects, there’s a reasonably straight lead vocal allowing Emily’s powerful voice to soar, but at times harmony vocals are affected to within an inch of their life. Autotune has been used in a playful way - it’s not too bombastic.

Highlights is another beautiful tune; it’s a bass heavy slow-jam with Emily’s multi-tracked voice weaving and soaring above. Again, it’s voice effects heavy and there’s not a lot of subtlety. But it works for the overall genre.

Aftertaste is the closing tune on the EP, and it punctuates this four idea paragraph with an excellent full stop. It includes the lyrics: “After taste, an aftershock”… “what a better way to break a heart..”

It is the perfect tune to end this brilliant release on.