Album Review: Death & Love, Pt. 1 by Circa Waves

Anyone curious about the state of Britpop over the last decade would do well to dive into the discography of Circa Waves, who recently released their sixth full-length album, Death & Love Pt. 1. Forming in Liverpool after its members (lead vocalist and guitarist Kieran Shudall, guitarist Joe Falconer, bassist Sam Rourke, and original drummer Sian Plummer, eventually replaced by Colin Jones) met at a music festival in 2013, Circa Waves initially created a buzz with fizzy songs like their debut single “Get Away/Good for Me” and follow up, “Stuck in My Teeth”.

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A near death experience was the impetus for Circa Waves' latest studio album. Whilst the past makes us who we are and is a key influence on the storytelling of ‘Death & Love Pt. 1’, the album also sees the band considering their future and in particular the future for frontman Kieran Shudall. This record was the catharsis to take stock of his near death experience in 2023 and how he has had to adjust to a new way of life.

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Ostensibly the product of a heart surgery-inducing health scare experienced by frontman Kieran Shudall, Circa Waves' sixth comes accompanied by an implied mission statement of defiant, life-affirming optimism. And, as their decade-long career demonstrates, this is something they can do very well indeed. Here, 'Like You Did Before', 'We Made It', and 'Le Bateau' are prime contenders for such festival staple status: a three-track run of rose-tinted, crowd-pleasing anthems whose lyrics ("It took a long time to get here / But yeah we made it"; "Tomorrow can wait for the sunrise") will be situational solid gold to festival revellers and romanticising, main character teen couples.

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