By Emma Furrier Throughout the past year and a half, the world has seemed to fall into a near standstill, while time doesn’t cease passing us by. In its wake, the pandemic has left many of us feeling as if we are playing a waiting game for life to return back to normal, and for us to finally feel like we are truly living again. Munich-based alternative five piece, Wait of the World, is no stranger to this feeling. Formed nearly eight years ago, the band is made up of childhood friends Mike Sigl (guitar, keys and second vocals), Marco Eckl (guitar) and Tom Patchett (bass), Elias "Push" Bohatsch (drums) and frontman Ben Hutchison-Bird. Despite the stress of the year and the uncertainty of what lies ahead, they’ve still managed to continue putting their heads together to pen new songs and ideas for the band going forward. Presently, the band has released five official singles, and is planning on releasing their next song the first week of September. Looking ahead, they’ve barely let their foot off the gas, and will spend the remainder of the year recording for a double EP or full-length debut to be released in 2022. Taking influences from each of their five members, Wait of the World is a heterogeneous mix of the styles they all love, including hip hop, metal, modern rock, and bubblegum pop. Although constituting so many diverse genres and having so much drive to create, it took them some time to get where they are now. Their latest single, ‘If Only Tonight’ is a direct result of the band’s tendencies to allow things time to rest. The initial idea of the track itself goes back a few years, but it was put on the backburner for a later time while the band pursued other ideas. It wasn’t until this past year that it was brought back up and fully constructed. Recording the track came together in a patchwork styled construction, having been recorded both in lead singer Ben Hutchison-Bird’s basement, and a recording studio in Hamburg. Thematically, the song reflects on youth, growing up, and the mourning changes it brings. Hutchison-Bird reflected on the song, stating, “The lyrics are about growing up in a sense, or the end of growing up. Hitting adult age and suddenly being confronted with this fear of uncertainties that you can’t do anything the way you used to be able to, as freely as you used to be able to when you were younger. It’s scary growing up… I’m always concerned about what the future’s going to bring. The verse is written as if it’s a person being seduced by all these things you used to be able to do. Being free, acting dumb and whatever. And the chorus is kind of a release to it, saying well if only tonight we could just let go and we could be as we are. We can run and let go of it all and be free in that sense. Just not caring, if only for one night we could just not care about anything”. To coincide with the topic of the song, musically each band member contributes to create a full, alternative-rock-pop sound that feels almost anthem-esqe to teens and millennials alike. Citing acts like Nothing but Thieves, Bring me the Horizon, While She Sleeps and Thrice as their favourite bands and musical influences, it is clear that Wait of the World are keen on remaining energetic and innovative in their sound. Bending genre has never been something they’ve shied away from, but rather embraced. Having started off making funk-rock music, they pivoted and reconstructed not only the genre and style in which they wanted to create, but the name and essence of the band. This new single is clear evidence of that journey and a bit different than anything they’ve released to date. As their fifth single, the structure of the song is more in-tune to their personal tastes and their desire to create something fresh. The verses are rather electronic, while the chorus on the other hand is a poppy, ear-worm of a hook that grabs you and embeds itself into your brain, forcing you to sing along. Unafraid to be placed in one box, the band have explored various other sounds, venturing into harder rock and touches of metal, which they plan to release later this year. Accompanying the single is a music video the band filmed near Hamburg, Germany. This is the first video they have not filmed and produced themselves, which added an extra layer of excitement and energy for the band. The video, directed by Timmi Thaler, also features actors alongside the band, and tells the story of a night running through a grandiose forest, being confronted with different possibilities. Various darkened spaces are opened to run into, only to get lost, in a subtle metaphor for life. Their prior music video release for their past single, ‘Bite My Tongue’ was filmed completely DIY by strictly the band, as Bohatsch (drummer) is talented in not just music, but cinetampgraphy as well. Adding this new experience of filming with a crew and actors is something that excited the band and solidified a promising trajectory for them. Hutchison-Bird stated: “Everything is primarily about the music. Playing live and getting out to show it on stage. But you also have this creative aspect in the background as well. The artworks, videos and everything. All of it comes together to shape the band, and shape what you do. Getting to do these kinds of things is really fun to do”. It is clear in talking to Hutchison-Bird and watching the band perform in their videos, that despite the often melancholic theme to their music, the band is focused on eliciting emotion and creating a lively, intense musical experience. No matter which direction they take, Wait of the World promises to keep you on your toes throughout their journey of musical exploration. While we eagerly await their next releases, you can stream their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and Youtube. If you would like to find out more about Wait of the World and keep up to date with their latest releases, you can find the links to all their socials below via the icons:
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By Edward Burnett It is no secret that the Arctic Monkeys are my personal all-time favourite band. This is for a plethora of reasons but we can whittle these down to their poetic lyricism, complicated-yet-catchy tunes and of course, me being a Yorkshire lad myself like the rocking four-piece. Yet the focal point of this article is a strength of the Sheffield band that is not listed there but rather one that leads to a certain theory I’ve harboured for some time surrounding Alex Turner and Co. Before we get into the theory itself, firstly I must discuss the strength which prompts this. What really makes Arctic Monkeys shine is their alterations in style and sound from each album to the next. No two releases are ever the same with the band going from indie-punk tones on their debut to a more sonic, stylised rock on the multi award-winning ‘AM’. This knack of changing their image and sound with every album while managing to also succeed in such transitions shows why the band are one of the very best around. The Monkeys’ talent evidently has no ceiling. So what’s the theory then? What has the Northern English group’s multiple regenerations got to do with anything? Well pardon the pun but let’s build this theory up ‘Brick By Brick’. Firstly, the base-point of my thinking is that there are several songs per album that don’t belong there but rather on the succeeding album instead. This act gives an air of foreshadowing for what is to come in the next album. One major instance of this is between 2009’s ‘Humbug’ and 2011’s ‘Suck It and See’. I would argue that out of the entire AM discography, these two albums represent the biggest jump in changing themes from both a lyrics and a genre perspective. On one hand we have the aggressive, moody and sonic ‘Humbug’ which encompasses mystery and some dread through its enticing lyrics of danger and mystification. On the other hand we have the band’s fourth studio album, ‘Suck It and See’- a romantic collection of songs that give a quieter, acoustic vibe. Just from these two descriptions, never mind from listening to the two differing albums, one can tell that the band had changed monumentally in just three years. Was there any signs though to suggest this change was coming and thus support the overarching theory of foreshadowing? Yes, yes there were. Take the seventh track, ‘Cornerstone’, from ‘Humbug’ as the key example. This track doesn’t possess the darker themes that show to be the norm in its fellow songs. Instead the song is a far softer romance ballad that feels out of place next to the heavier songs like ‘Crying Lightning’ and ‘Dangerous Animals’. It’s cute and enchanting aura suits the songs of ‘Suck It and See’ far more with it being extremely similar in content to ‘Piledriver Waltz’ in particular. Another example amongst many others to point out is the jump to ‘Humbug’ itself from the group’s second album, 2007’s ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’. The Monkeys’ sophomore album brought about the introduction of their now uniquely iconic lyricism which featured symbolic language and references. This was a step forward creatively when compared to their very down to Earth and realism-heavy debut ‘Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not’. The second album therefore thematically, although changing the way in which the themes were presented via abstract comparisons, did stay the same as the first with a punchy attitude and a positive sound. However, there are some signs on the album which indicate the dip to the darkside that the band were due to take with ‘Humbug’. Namely ‘If You Were There, Beware’ springs to mind at an instant. Here we have a song riddled with imagery of serpents, witches and regret. All these gloomy motifs are painted against a deeper background beat which features sharp and almost unplanned musical twist and turns resulting in an unsettling nature. This very atmosphere is shown regularly throughout ‘Humbug’ and is what the album is of course characterised by. Whether all this is planned or merely experimental chance, it matters not. What does indeed matter is that it occurs and intriguingly has a long track record of it. Therefore we might all need a closer listen to the Monkeys’ most recent studio release, 2018’s ‘Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino’, to see what’s in store for us when the band finally reconvene for AM7. I hope my sharing of the theory has added another level to your enjoyment of listening to the band and now we at RNRR aren’t the ‘Only Ones Who Know’ about it. If you'd like to find out more about Arctic Monkeys and keep up to date with their latest releases and the rumoured AM7, the links to all their socials are below via the icons:
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