Just Listen: Campfire Social – Awake in the Wake of a Wave
Campfire Social
Awake in the Wake of a Wave
Words by Stephen Birch
The sad song is a pop music staple that has been with us as long as it’s first exponents realised the power of an effective minor chord structure. Guitar Pop has been a natural refuge for the outsider and their feelings of distance from the virtues and expectations of the mainstream. It’s within this realm where Campfire Social feel most at home – well, there and North Wales/Chester.
Campfire Social have been gaining fans with a slow and steady approach to releasing and touring, and as a result have won friends in high places. 2019 saw them win a slot on the coveted Boaty Weekender, Belle and Sebastian’s jaunt around the Med. Then 2020 hit and provided the music business with a wider sense of melancholy that led Taylor Swift to record with The National’s Aaron Dessner. So where does that leave a band on the rise like Campfire Social?
New single Awake in the Wake of a Wave seems to fit beautifully into this unsure landscape. The very title, perhaps accidental – has obvious parallels in the midst of a global pandemic.
The song itself revels in it’s sadness to begin with, slowly building around the existential
thoughts of singer Thomas Hyndman – with a melody that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Death Cab for Cutie album. Then a subtle shift mid-song that takes it into Two Door
Cinema Club territory. The chiming guitars are joyous at this point and it’s sometimes difficult to believe you’re listening to the same song. Never has the phrase I don’t belong been so joyously and harmoniously sung.
Campfire Social are a band that have been riding a crest for a while and are sure to reach their peak if they continue to produce work as highly engaing as Awake in the Wake of a Wave.
Long live the Sad Songs!
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Instagram: @campfiresocial
Twitter: @campfiresocial
