What it truly means to accept flawed, bittersweet experiences – bad pieces. by wave to earth
A new wave to earth album, a new wave to earth sound – so of course, a new wave to earth album review! I absolutely loved ‘bad pieces.’ The album pivots the band towards a more rock-focused sound and shifts to unconventional instruments that are not common to their repertoire. A lot of the songs evoke a sound that is usually typical to vocalist/guitarist Daniel Kim’s other band, The Poles. Meanwhile, The Poles’ new music seems to be shifting towards wave to earth’s signature sound. I see this as Daniel coming through with a harmonized creative vision for both the bands – where both retain their underlying flavours and yet continue to explore and innovate in their sounds. Another interesting facet is that the lyricism features not solely Daniel’s vision, but brings in bassist John Cha’s voice more poignantly than usual, and, for the first time, allows us to explore drummer Dong Q’s lyrical vision. With this blend of voices in the writing, I find the lyricism to be less metaphorical and poetic and much more grounded, intimate and vulnerable.
The album ties beautifully into ‘play with earth! 0.03.’ In ending ‘play with earth,’ the songs ‘holyland’ and ‘slow dive’ play on the words ‘piece’ and ‘peace.’ I examined this interplay in my analysis of ‘play with earth!’:
“In ‘slow dive,’ “piece” is used to show how a sense of “peace” arises from your mind being in “pieces” of confusion. In ‘holyland,’ we see much the opposite – this imagined “peace” of the holyland gives way to a mind that is fragmented into “pieces.” And yet the word “peace” never features in ‘slow dive,’ and “piece” never in ‘holyland.’ These songs thus come together to intersect slightly as the album ends, showing how the mind can both hurt and heal itself by constructing illusions that we must break through.”
wave to earth carry this idea forward into this album by calling it ‘bad pieces,’ using these very illusions of our mind and focusing intently on small moments (‘pieces’) that are defined by uncertainty and confusion (hence ‘bad’) – moments that can really send us into our heads as we try to unpack and unravel the feelings they bring. However, despite being called ‘bad pieces,’ not all the uncertainty portrayed in the moments these songs capture is necessarily ‘bad.’ Much of it pertains to exploring unfamiliar feelings, to the non-linear nature of healing and the confusing nature of love and moving on from its end.
The album opens with ‘talkin’ bout u,’ which makes an unforgettable impression. It introduces a new sound and era for the band, distinct from what they have created in the past. This song heavily spotlights the piano and the drums. While tracks like ‘homesick’ have also brought these sounds to the fore in the past, w2e’s music has always blended instruments within a quintessential ensemble of guitars, drums, bass, synths and (maybe) a saxophone. Our first introduction to this album with ‘heaven and hell’ also deviated from this, featuring no acoustic drums and an acoustic guitar over Daniel’s usual electric, alongside John opting for Moog over traditional synths. Similarly, here, we hear not an ensemble, but primarily a swung drumbeat accompanied by a clean piano. The lyrical quality of this track is also distinct as it brings together three very different writers – Daniel, John and Korean-Canadian artist Jiwoo, who has written deep, mellow tracks like ‘Greed’ and ‘Commes des Garçons.’ He brings to the lyrics his unconventional and somewhat cryptic writing style. I was honestly so happily surprised to see his name and the writing collaboration between the three! This track, then, opens with a revelation. The uncertain, imperfect experience described here is of trying to unravel a confusing set of feelings for the umpteenth time, only to finally figure out what they mean. It shows the singer replaying a moment that conveyed that these feelings coming up repeatedly is not mere coincidence and is worth listening to. It sounds like finally recognising your affection for someone. Thus, this track is open and direct in its narrative style – “I’m talkin bout you/It’s always been you.” The singer doesn’t mince words – they’ve spent so long in their head that they’re now tired of speaking in riddles and finally open up about their feelings for their companion. The shift in sound is novel and unique, but somehow, this track is also reminiscent of elements of ‘wave 0.01’ in its style of percussion and rhythm, evoking songs like ‘gold’ or ‘purple lake.’ Thus, wave to earth create something distinctive, gripping and interesting that still includes flavours of what is uniquely theirs.
This song is followed by ‘everything comes and goes,’ a uniquely memorable composition. While it’s called ‘everything comes and goes,’ it is sonically distinctive and sticks with you deeply. It evokes a lot of w2e’s jazz-focused tracks, particularly reminiscent of ‘nouvelle vague,’ filled with melodies that seem curious and mysterious. Where the title initially struck me as suggesting the constancy of change, the lyrics rather suggest a world of endless choice which then triggers endless transience, a passing through where nothing touches you deeply or sticks with you. Even when you try to block it out (“Only now I closed my eyes/After absorbing the dance I’d seen somewhere”), pieces of it come back to haunt you, leaving you with no peace of mind, just an unidentifiable and endless noise.
“Everything comes and goes
I can’t sleep
Everything comes and goes
I can’t hold on to it”
The composition of this track echoes this endless rush of the world by blending various sounds. Daniel’s drawling vocals are followed by a groovy jazzy interlude that ends just too soon, before transitioning into the droning chorus and instrumental outro of the song. The saxophone plays a key role in this track, wherein it does not simply solo, but whines on throughout the background of the song, directly accompanying Daniel’s drawn out “ooh, ooh.” In fact, Jeon Min’s saxophone fades in and out – sometimes peaking, showing off, soloing, and other times being a constant, unignorable presence amongst the punchy drums. This song blends a lazy, slow vibe from the melodies and lyrics with an underlying anxiety that comes through in the rhythms and the prominence of the saxophone. This song thoroughly captures the restlessness of endless consumption, endless information, endless dopamine flashing before our eyes – but nothing truly stimulating us or inspiring us when there’s no end to novelty, choice or glamour.
The next track, ‘babo,’ is probably the most interesting one on the album, given that these lyrics and melody feature twice on this album. ‘babo’ is repurposed as ‘hyang’ further down on the tracklist, a reimagined composition to the same lyrics. It’s always refreshing to hear tracks like these written in Korean, as they always convey a more deep-rooted feeling in a direct manner. Interestingly, though, the titles of these two songs are romanised Korean words. They have no English alternative, as with ‘love.,’ for instance, or ‘ride,’ or ‘nouvelle vague,’ which are titled in English. ‘hyang’ is expansive while ‘babo’ is vulnerable and intimate. The titles itself convey this. ‘babo’ emphasises the second, more vulnerable verse of the song, while ‘hyang’ focuses the initial, more nostalgic verse.
The song reminisces on a past companionship. The first verse draws out this nostalgia – of a scent that drifted by, of a voice that barely reached, that somehow remained stark and unerasable. The next two lines were very interesting to translate, as it was the first time I learned the word ‘가장하다.’ 가장 is generally used to mean ‘the most,’ ‘the greatest,’ ‘the best.’ 가장하다, meanwhile, is used to show pretending, disguising, or feigning. Daniel plays on words here then. He could be saying, “Because I know the greatest beauty/I know that this cannot be a pretense.” He could also be saying that since he recognizes feigned or inauthentic beauty, he looks at his companion and sees something so beautifully different that it has to be true, authentic and cannot be an act – because in some way, it is imperfect and doesn’t hide the ‘flawed’ parts.
‘babo’ looks inward, focusing on how the singer recognizes their own innocence and stupidity, even growing to like and accept it when it is called out by their companion. They sit with being called ‘babo,’ ‘fool,’ in a strange dichotomy. At the opening of the second verse, they sound somewhat shameful and sad at being a ‘fool’ who knows nothing. But then, as they recall their loved one calling them a fool, they sing to themselves, reminiscing the relationship and moments of foolishness with a bittersweet tinge. The uncertainty and imperfection of this ending come through here, in realising your innocence and ignorance humbly once a partnership has ended. The song really shows the singer sitting with themselves and reflecting in the aftermath of this relationship, which is why we hear only Daniel and the guitar, and the ambient noises of the analog instruments. The music video is equally apt. We see Daniel’s silhouette performing this song alone at twilight, so we can’t clearly make out his image, his outfit, his expression as he sings, suggesting that these aspects are utterly personal and he is currently examining them himself – they are only known to him. The video progresses with the camera zooming out significantly and Daniel becoming but a speck in the scenery. This gives it a meditative, reflective quality, that shows him introspecting considerably but also feels like we have intruded and ended up glimpsing something very vulnerable that is not necessarily meant for our eyes.
‘hyang,’ comparatively, features dark piano notes accompanied with the drums, and the vocals are more thoroughly mixed and mastered. This could show the overall memory Daniel has of the relationship he sings of – the music here sways along slowly and the notes of the piano almost seem to immerse you in days gone by. Since the focus is less on Daniel’s voice alone, we get to immerse in how this companionship actually made Daniel feel as an experience, going beyond the vulnerable introspection in the aftermath of the fallout that Daniel conveys in ‘babo.’ Both songs feature the same lyricism but provide wildly different listening experiences and emotions. wave to earth are known for this quality of being able to transform their arrangements to suit a completely different vibe. I am more interested now to see the twists they would add to these arrangements when playing them live!
The next track, ‘sing it all again,’ is one of my favourite tracks on this album. I was particularly struck by the first verse because it mirrors a struggle I continue to deal with in my own life. Daniel appeals to purity for guidance on “how to be,” and then notices how this constant pursuit of purity and perfection “stains” his beliefs. As he endlessly tries to be the purest, most perfect version of himself, he loses conviction in the things that matter to him and why he believed them to be important in the first place. Instead, he remains focused on being perfect, good, pure – only to conclude that he still somehow has no clue what “pure” actually means in this context. Getting caught up in any kind of perfectionism, where one grows more focused on the output and the appearance of effort and success, is bound to sap the joy and love out of the process, making one stray away from what led them to their passion in the first place and lose touch with it.
While Daniel could use “purity” to describe perfectionism or low self-worth, the choice of the word suggests ties to morality. He examines similar themes in ‘heaven and hell,’ where he understands that morality is not absolute or dichotomous – and those pushing these narratives are mistaken. This verse, then, evokes for me personally the experience of engaging with certain belief systems or actions believing them to be moral, empathetic, ethical and considerate within a society that is exploitative, extractive, individualistic and lacking in empathy. However, there are voices amongst those who share these beliefs that push for perfection and purity, scrutinizing those trying to survive and navigate complex systems alongside their conviction for what’s right. And when we lose sight of pure intentions and conviction in doing our best to do good, instead expecting people to prove moral perfection before they can even express and act on their beliefs, we stain the underlying conviction and goodness of heart that drove those people to do good in the first place.
I will go off on a tangent here about why I resonated with this song a lot, so bear with me (or don’t, you can skip over this paragraph if you want, it’s up to you). I reached a point where I truly believed that I was not a good person, or at least, that I was lacking as a person – morally, socially, emotionally, and so on – and this was something I desperately had to fix. This pursuit of self-improvement eventually stopped being aspirational and grew exhausting – it felt like there was no end to my flaws. As soon as I fixed one, I’d find some other part of me that needed improvement. I lost sight of why I was trying to know myself anyway and grew exhausted with trying to right all my mistakes and fix everything that was wrong with me. These days, I wonder what being a ‘good person’ really means and whether I want to pursue being one or even portray myself as one. So, I guess, I don’t know what pure is either. But maybe there isn’t one definition, which is what Daniel tries to say in this song. Indeed, in the next verse, he wishes for serenity, for peace and calm within himself, over perfection and purity. He learns that change and growth are slow, and he needs patience to let himself change and become the next version of himself that he is going to be.
In the chorus, he then feels reassured that no matter what, he will return to who he is (“find my way back home”). Even when times are tough, he aims to accept the feeling and try to find comfort. I find Daniel’s multiple (alleged) references to ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ by Keane quite endearing. The original song is a nostalgic tale of drifting apart from a friend and struggling to hold on. Daniel echoes this sentiment on ‘Home’ by The Poles, where he reimagines the lyrics from Keane’s chorus, trying to hold on to a companion who slips just out of reach. However, in this song, he uses the words ‘somewhere only we know’ as a safe haven during trying times. He describes letting oneself loose and allowing yourself to feel heavy, difficult emotions in an environment that feels comforting to you.
I feel as though this song continues on from ‘babo.’ Daniel ends the previous track saying, “As much as I liked [being called a fool], that was how much I sang of it again, as though it was new.” With this song, ‘sing it all again,’ he sings of exactly that – of uncertainty, of not knowing, of simply finding comfort and solace during trying times and doing his best to go with the flow. In an environment where the “lost” version of him comes to “truly be free,” he can admit the things he doesn’t know, that he really is a fool – he doesn’t know what ‘pure’ is and he needs to develop the patience to grow and change. The sound of this song is also distinct from w2e’s other gentler tracks. The acoustic guitar creates an intimacy and airiness to the song that feels like looking at a clear sky on a breezy day as you process something heavy and difficult. Daniel’s higher vocal tones are incredibly gentle and comforting. I also love how the melodies on the verses sound. The notes chosen are so wonderfully satisfying.
‘skylark’ is the next song, definitely my favourite on the album! My first impression of this song was that it really reminded me of ‘Dancing Bird’ by The Poles in terms of its sound and the title that also references a bird. ‘Dancing Bird’ expresses a last attempt to hold on to someone who is desperate to fly away and free themselves, someone who can’t be tied down. In ‘Dancing Bird,’ Daniel is beginning to realise that the relationship has faded: “things we love have slipped away,” and describes the subject of the song as a “dream” who exists at the “sunset of his life.” As he describes the ending of something beautiful, he holds on to its last threads, to him, still, “forever feels so near.” It’s just out of reach – and so, if he begs this person to “stay this way,” maybe they can salvage something of what they once had. ‘skylark,’ contrastingly, seems to show growth as Daniel finally releases even these last hopes, realising that his companion is not meant to be tied down. He now urges his companion “fly high, my skylark.” He asks, “what’s the point of this beautiful dream?” – he realizes that the dream only exists to him, and not to the person he thought would stay with him forever. Thus, in the chorus, he accepts that all these memories that brought him life now only exist in his mind. These last memories too leave him behind as his companion drifts further and further away.
Choosing the skylark to describe a free-spirited companion is apt (yes, I Googled the Eurasian skylark to write about this song, I’m just committed like that). The male skylark sings for up to 20 minutes during the mating season, doing so while flying 50-100m above the ground, looking tiny to the naked eye. The skylark, then, represents a person who is ambitious, desires freedom and the space to be themselves unapologetically, even if it means they pursue those dreams alone. Like the skylark, they fly high but are alone – barely visible or heard by those on the ground, but completely at peace and even happily singing high up in the sky. Thus, Daniel sings, “run to your sky, my longing lover.” He recognizes the sky belongs to this lover – they deserve to be with their head in the clouds, dreaming big, this is where they are most themselves. Letting them go is what would set them both free and steer them both towards what they actually want. This song really is reminiscent of tracks by The Poles. As they are my favourite band, this track instantly grew on me. The drum beats at the start match ‘Dancing Bird’s’, and the dreamy rock melodies on the electric guitar, as well as the incredible solo, form a beautiful blend of both Daniel’s signature musical styles – I honestly love the crossover!
The next track, ‘courage,’ is the title track that deals with managing grief and hurt after realising that time and circumstance have altered relationships that were once close. This song has John Cha’s lyricism written all over it – a grounded but comforting track. ‘courage’ focuses on carrying on even as those around you no longer align with you or resonate with what you believe in. The song opens with suggesting that blaming and arguing without reason makes one “ugly” – expressing negative energies without understanding and compassion reflects on one’s image. The singer then tries to rein themselves in and not let their anger get the best of them. In the chorus, they reassure us that drifting away from loved ones is a common experience. Rather than suggest that the people themselves are now somehow different, they suggest that time itself has changed. This could show that the times we live in are so different from before that it’s completely natural for people react in unexpected ways and drift away from us. It also shows that time itself is responsible for our evolution in life – while people do change, time itself is what prompts this through its influence rather than blaming the individual alone for not being who they used to be.
The next verse shows that the singer is imperfect and flawed too – they think everyone around them and time has changed, without considering that possibly, they too have changed with time and may just be on a path that no longer aligns them with those around them. Indeed, right after this, the singer accepts their own imperfection and hypocrisy. They refuse to admit that they are stubborn and refuse to reflect on how they too have changed and how this could affect their relationships. But they then go on to admit that they are a coward – admitting they have changed is scary and means accepting that time has different plans for them and the people they used to be so close with, and as Daniel sings earnestly at the end, he still loves these people he’s drifting away from and that’s what makes it so hard to accept the change and let go. Thus, their stubbornness and refusal to admit they have changed is probably their last attempt to preserve their relationship – pretending everything is fine, nothing has changed, and there’s no way time will ever affect something that was so dear to them. Thus, w2e preach a quiet courage during such trying times where one feels lost, alone and disconnected from those around them – the courage to admit that things are and will be different now, and the courage to accept that this is not a failure and simply allows space to welcome new life, new opportunities and the new world.
We live today in a society that seems to be falling apart at its core. Systems have proven they do not function anymore and are fundamentally broken. Injustice is at a height; people constantly fight one another and blame external groups and forces for systemic injustices rather than calling it what it is. Many people feel hopeless watching injustice grow rampant. They are scared to continue living in a world that looks nothing like the one they were born into. They do not know how they should survive when the systems and safety nets meant to support us all are failing. This song could also preach peaceful acceptance that this world is no longer what we knew it to be. We will surely feel lost because it is uncertain to step blindly into a new world with no clue how to navigate it or support ourselves through it. But it is exactly in times like these that we need the courage to support one another, to motivate one another and brave the death of this world and the birth of a new one together. It is a powerful, gentle and reassuring message and an incredibly apt choice for the title track. wave to earth’s use of the ‘Bed Peace’ protest by Yoko Ono and John Lennon in the song’s music video is thus notable here. In the original protest, the high-profile stars used the occasion of their honeymoon to stay in bed instead of travelling, while they invited journalists to talk about world peace with them and protest atrocities of the time like the Vietnam War. The band’s use of Lennon and Ono’s protest as a backdrop for this song then suggests that one does not need to be a bigshot with lots of influence to be courageous and make an impact in the world. You can do so from your bed too, so long as you speak with conviction and authenticity, being entirely yourself as you explain what you believe in and fight for it.
John Cha’s lyricism often features a social and worldly awareness and a commitment to acceptance, understanding and grounding. His writing welcomes all people to share space together, to converse freely and to honestly open up about struggle and difficulty rather than feign perfection. With ‘annie.,’ he rejected materialistic pursuits of wealth for the sake of wealth and instead emphasized the value of remaining grounded in real experiences that bring you life. Similarly, in his own song ‘Plain Life,’ he sings about the mundaneness of his own life, how he frequently loses people and tries to find joy in the small – this makes him lonely and he must find ways to bring himself comfort and joy when he feels alone too. When John writes music, it’s clear he wishes to speak to the imperfect and uncomfortable parts of the human condition. He holds up a mirror to them but also shows that there is solidarity to be found in these difficult experiences and that accepting and supporting each other through these is what helps us navigate the complex world we live in.
‘cherry flavoured love inside your heart’ is the next track – probably the longest wave to earth song title I’ve ever seen so far! This track is unconventional because it’s the first time we see Dong Q participating in a song as a lyricist. I love the concept of the title. Cherries have a slightly tart taste but somehow add a delicious flavour to sweet desserts. ‘Cherry-flavoured love,’ then, suggests that love is filled with sour and tart parts like this amongst all the sweetness – but choosing love despite these allows you to experience its wholest, truest flavour. I really love the first verse. It shows that healing is not linear – healing brings out the “sun,” which throws light on your wounds or things you avoided recognising about yourself. Daniel urges us not to shy away from this healing light – instead, sitting with these wounds and imperfection (“Sitting in the light”) will actually do us good and help us accept ourselves as we are. The bridge shows that despite the pain we face, we will still strive for more and dream of light, even when things get hard or turn out to be different than what they seem.
The chorus echoes this feeling of chasing love that slips just beyond your reach. Cherry flavoured love could also represent an apprehension towards love – as soon as you find something good, you infuse it with sourness and tartness, worrying if it’s too good to be true or will slip out of your reach. You try to seek out the imperfections or prepare yourself for hurt before it happens, and once it ends, you convince yourself you knew this would fail all along. However, the sweetness of this song’s sound seems to suggest an acceptance of this uncertainty and vulnerability. Calling it something that evokes beauty and sweetness too – cherry flavoured love – shows that love is worth accepting even through apprehension, uncertainty or struggles in a relationship. I love the dreamlike rock sounds on this track. I really like the direction that this album takes sonically compared to w2e’s older music. Daniel’s voice sounds particularly sweet on this song, and he also uses his deeper, lower register, where his voice typically sounds fuller and more whole.
‘you’ also features Dong Q as a songwriter. I really loved seeing his songwriting debut on these last two tracks! He has a very sweet and touching lyrical style, and the same gratitude and gentleness of his personality echoes in songs he contributes to writing. This song is deeply touching and sad as it reflects on an imbalanced relationship. Interestingly, it takes on the perspective of someone who recognizes they are not able to give enough to the relationship and are possibly draining their companion’s energy (“Paying each other’s/Pain once again/Wasting all your warmth on me”). Nonetheless, the singer still yearns for this companion and what they meant to them, wishing to be close with them just once again.
I find it interesting how the chorus echoes the lyrics of ‘sunny days’ with the line, “Still, I’m nothing without you.” ‘sunny days’ signalled the start of a new relationship – a new love forming that brightens up the days. However, even as we see the relationship ending here, w2e find that this companion is still a key part of them and not someone they can ever forget. At the end of this relationship, they place the focus on the partner, emphasizing as the key message of this song that they are “nothing without you.” Here too, they keep up the theme of ‘bad pieces’ – the experience described here is a nuanced and confusing one. Carrying another’s pain to the point it becomes your own and saps your energy is difficult and usually a sign that one should step away. However, being the one who is suffering and needs support, but recognising that you cannot expect so much from one person and you must let them go, is an equally taxing and isolating experience. ‘you’ brings both these painful, difficult experiences together in the singer’s mind as he tries to contend with letting his companion go.
The next track is ‘heaven and hell,’ a bold and beautiful message that was an unforgettable first introduction to the album through its release as a single. I was so moved by this song that I reviewed it right after its release, here. This song bravely takes on the weaponisation of morality in the name of religion.
The first line, “Do you need to judge?” has also been interpreted as “Do you need a church?” Both suggest that many approach religion by constantly critiquing others and their lives, justifying it with claims of being devout, moral and pure. They use religion – something tender, abstract and personal – as a weapon to deal out hatred and judgement. When the first line is interpreted as “Do you need a church,” then, it turns on these people, asking if being religious and going to church suddenly absolves them of the cruelty they constantly express in the name of religion. In this verse, “conviction” could mean the strength of faith these people claim to have – they decide that their conviction, devoutness and morality means they are allowed to judge others, to choose who deserves to exist and who deserves to go to hell. However, Daniel questions this “conviction,” which constructs morality as black and white. He examines whether devotion and faith justify constantly making others feel less and out of place.
In the second verse, w2e ask: “You just need commitment/But why doesn’t it feel like the answer?” Those who do not align with conservative tenets of religion or who desire a life that diverges from it are told to pray that God will change their behaviours and desires, washing them away so that they become more ‘morally pure’ versions of themselves. wave to earth emphasise throughout the song: “Heaven and hell/It’s not all about it.” They turn on black-and-white thinking, expressing that people are not inherently good or bad, such that they can be simply sorted into heaven and hell. To them, there’s more to life than measuring every action by its morality.
wave to earth expand on this in the bridge:
“Be alive, you are holding the answer
Like a child, purity is the way
Live a life as if you’re in heaven.”
The second line stings a little at first because it seems to lean right back into what morality-obsessed religious people say – that one must always be pure, moral, never do anything ‘sinful.’ However, it’s possible that purity here does not mean perfection and morality, but rather, authenticity and a lack of pretension – a theme already discussed in ‘babo’ and ‘hyang.’ w2e suggest that ‘purity’ is the answer because committing to being yourself despite people’s questions and judgments is truly freeing. Further, calling this purity childlike suggests the freedom, playfulness and carefreeness that we had as children, and lost as we took on the burdens of societal expectations. These qualities used to make our lives vibrant and enjoyable in childhood – reconnecting with this pure truth is what is truly heavenly rather than this endless evaluation of your own morality.
wave to earth’s composition of this track completely diverges from all their previous works. They start with a mellow tone through the song, which features an acoustic guitar over Daniel’s usual electric guitar and the song features no acoustic drums, highlighting the vulnerability of the questions they ask and the uncertainty that comes with finding yourself misaligned with the usual comfort and solace that comes from religion. At the bridge, a synthetic-sounding, eerie backing vocal accompanies Daniel as he sings “Be alive, you are holding the answer.” This suggests that arriving at this answer of accepting one’s identity feels blasphemous and sacrilegious. It feels wrong amongst the noise of constantly being told you’re simply not faithful enough, not moral enough, and you must change your identity for God, rather than God who must accept you as He created you. However, the bridge then transitions into the final chorus of Daniel singing “heaven and hell.” Here, he is joined by a harmonious chorus and what sounds like a church organ – the sound is incredibly sacred and suggests that as Daniel accepts himself and his identity, he attains true holiness.
I love John’s idea for this song and the way he approaches this concept as a Christian who slowly comes to terms with the nuances of morality. It is beautiful to see Christians re-interpreting their scriptures to be more inclusive, accepting and cognizant of the complex and nuanced times that we live in. As always, wave to earth infuse their lyrics with so much meaning and beauty and it is so beautiful to see them take on a heavier theme with such a bold message!
The album ends with ‘closing.,’ an incredibly vulnerable track. While it closes off the album, it is also an attempt to close off a chapter, a season or to gain closure after a difficult experience. The song opens with a heavy question – the singer wonders how to move on with “all this loss,” but also “all this love” that is left over with nowhere to go after you’ve lost someone or ended a relationship. Where Daniel sings “And even though I am barely holding on,” it sounds closely like “And even though I am barely old enough.” Both interpretations are heartrending – trying to pick oneself up and face hardship knowing you are beaten down or realising that you have lived all your life trying to survive, and yet you must simply continue on even as life takes more from you.
In the second verse, Daniel sings of recognising the end of a chapter of your life:
“Every season leaving something old behindThat’s alrightAnd every time we feel like we’re left behindThat’s alright.”
Here, he naturally describes leaving behind relationships, feelings or behaviours that no longer serve you, and feeling like you’ve lost something. However, he also states that during these periods of change and upheaval you feel like you leave your own self behind. It could feel like you no longer know yourself – as though in losing this person/experience/feeling, you have lost yourself. Alternatively, he could suggest that in the time we spend grappling with grief and hurt, struggling to survive through these emotions, we miss out on living our lives. We then end up feeling that others have progressed ahead of us and we are left behind others. In all these cases, he assures us that it is okay to feel this way and to carry this weight as you move on, just so long as you do move on.
The chorus is particularly emotional and poignant:
“Oh, maybe we don’t need to know it all/The sun has set nowAnd that’s alright.”
Many times, we encounter confusing and irrational experiences and spend ages trying to understand why they happened, why we let this happen, what could we have done to prevent it. We try to know and analyse everything so that we can finally get to the root cause of it all and fix it. However, Daniel seems to suggest here that there are some things that happen that hurt, and we will never know why we had to go through them. Sometimes things don’t happen for a reason, but that doesn’t mean we stay stuck trying to figure it all out. When something has ended and no longer serves us, we must accept that ending, heal and move on, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment. This song reminded me of ‘The Setting Sun’ by The Poles. It has a similarly comforting and gentle tone, urging listeners to set aside their worries, to not spend too much time agonizing over the future and to simply observe the beauty of the setting sun instead.
This song spoke deeply to me and is very close to my heart. In the last years, I ended up experiencing things that were deeply troubling and hurtful, and I could scarcely make sense of why I had to go through those things. I continued to carry guilt and regret for what happened and tried every single day to analyse the experience, my actions in it, why it happened – anything at all to make sense of it and justify it. Doing all this, I grew exhausted from the constant analysis, the constant desire to fix, understand and rationalise. Hearing this song was a reminder that the experience I am turning over endlessly has in fact ended a long time ago – maybe it still doesn’t make sense why it happened, but dwelling on this kind of hurt does no good in the long run and doesn’t bring you closer to healing in any way.
In this track, w2e truly embody the spirit of the title ‘bad pieces.’ They end the album not with a simple comforting track, but rather a heavy, emotional and vulnerable one. Daniel brings his baggage and struggles with it – loss and love that he is saddled with and unsure how to move forward with. Nonetheless, he expresses that sometimes we move on carrying our baggage, our bad pieces, our imperfections, hurt and flaws. We do so imperfectly, still looking back, still struggling, still trying to figure it all out – but we move nonetheless and as we do, so do we accept the dark parts of ourselves and leave behind experiences that have hurt us.
While this album carries a similar thought to ‘0.1 flaws and all,’ it approaches this with a much more vulnerable lens and truly leaves those flaws bare for the listeners to resonate with themselves. This is in fact what makes an album like this so artfully composed and memorable. I have genuinely really enjoyed writing this review and diving into the sincerity with which wave to earth have created this album. I really was excited to say my part on this – thus, pushing through 9 (sometimes more) hours of daily corporate slavery, lots of exhaustion and tiredness and various other curveballs from life, I sat to prepare and share this with everyone as soon as I could. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!!
References:
All translations by me
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