Short Reviews [Wave - 2023 - "Music for the Night Drivers"]

Here we have the fourth album from Polish act Wave. Until now they have been a stable quintet, but since 2020's "Dream" they have lost their second guitarist, Grzesiek Opalko, so the line-up is now Marcin Wrona (vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, percussion), Wojciech Lisowicz (grand piano, piano, electric piano, keyboards, harmonica , bass, acoustic guitar, backing vocals), Artur Ramiaczek (drums, percussion) and Wiktor Moderau (bass) along with two guests in Rafal Geborek (trumpet) and Roch Dobrowolski (cello). The band have treated driving at night as being an allegory for understanding our own existence in that we are somewhat cocooned while also wanting to see what lies ahead in the dark. There is a sadness in this music, as the band build a soundscape of layers which compress into each other with little in the way of space. It is not ominous, but there is definitely an absence of light and joy, with the result being something which needs to be played on headphones to get the best from it. We never know where the journey is going to take us, and there are times when they move away from prog and into music which could more accurately be described as jazz, with the bassline in "Radiodreamtime" being a case in point. The lyrics are in English, and there is always a feeling that there is an overtone and something may actually be in the dark waiting to find us, or is that just a trick of the light? It certainly feels like a very polished release, and I am somewhat surprised this is the first time I have come across them. This may not be as dynamic and vital as many of the releases on Lynx Music, but if you want your prog to be somewhat more sedate and more into art rock then this may well be of interest.