Circa Waves - Death & Love Pt. 1

Circa Waves have always been reliable merchants of festival-ready euphoria - the musical equivalent of that mate who knows exactly how to turn a regular Thursday into an impromptu celebration (probably with lots of pints).

Their sixth album, 'Death & Love Pt. 1', arrives carrying weighty baggage - frontman Kieran Shudall's recent health scare should, by rights, cast long shadows across these nine tracks. Instead, the Liverpool quartet have crafted something more familiar: a collection that trades introspection for inspiration, choosing to process life's heaviest moments through the prism of punch-the-air choruses.

'American Dream' is engineered for those sunset festival moments when ten thousand voices become one, somehow recalling both Olivia Rodrigo and My Chemical Romance (just us?). 'Le Bateau' - named for a beloved Liverpool nightspot - captures something more authentic: that electric 3am feeling when possibility crackles through the air like static.

The self-produced collection maintains the polished sheen of their recent output, though you can't help wondering if these songs of mortality and meaning might have benefited from a few more rough edges. 'Hold It Steady' comes closest to marrying the band's newfound gravitas with their natural inclination toward euphoria.