The Naked and Famous – In Rolling Waves

We’ve waited three years for their new album In Rolling Waves, and it has been well worth the wait....
The Naked and Famous : In Rolling Waves
8.3 Somewhat Damaged
2013 

The Naked and Famous : In Rolling WavesThe Naked and Famous is a band full of emotion and that was very evident on their debut album Passive Me, Aggressive You when it hit shelves (or hard drives) back in 2010.  Even though they had been around for a couple years by that point, and had previously released a couple of EPs, they seemed to enjoy a good measure of success around that album.  Usually bands in this position rush into making their sophomore effort, but these New Zealanders have taken it a bit slower.  In this case, we’ve waited three years for their new album In Rolling Waves, and that same emotion is present yet again.  It has been well worth the wait.

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The opening track “A Stillness” sets up the whole record perfectly. It builds in intensity in such a way that makes you 1) not only love the song itself, but also 2) eagerly anticipate the rest of the album. It implements an acoustic guitar in a really intriguing way and demonstrates the subtle new territory The Naked and Famous are tiptoeing into with this release.

Another great song is “Grow Old”.  It starts out soft yet intense and about halfway through hits one of those intense, driving pockets that this band is so capable of executing.

It was said of their first album and could be said again of In Rolling Waves that much of this band’s music could be the modern day soundtrack to a John Hughes album.  Take the song “I Kill Giants”, for instance.  It’s got that quintessential ‘80s synth sound that became so easily associated with his films.  That is one of the great things about this band’s music, that there is an odd sense of nostalgia to it even though you might not have ever heard it before.

In Rolling Waves is a great example of how the full album format of releasing new music is still alive and well and should be revered.  All of these songs fit together and flow into one another in such a way that it’s extremely easy to see they couldn’t have been released any other way.  So to all those people who are adopting the mentality that new music should be released a single at a time, listen to this album.

In Rolling Waves isn’t a giant leap forward for this band, but it’s just enough of a step in the right direction towards new territory while maintaining a connection to the roots for which we all know and love them.  It just goes to show that people won’t forget about you if you hit it big and take your time with your follow-up.  That being said, now that the groundwork is laid, hopefully they won’t wait as long for their third album.

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