Soft, supple, and organic, Adam Greenall’s ‘Waves’ is a raw and endearing piece of stripped down indie folk music. Relying on simple acoustic melodies and mellow vocal harmonies, the record puts you in a state of complete and utter bliss. Recorded over a winter in Norwich, Waves exudes landscapes of gloomy beaches, rocky shores, and days accompanied by chilly winds. There’s underlying themes of isolation, connection, and hope strewn across.
The moment on ‘Waves’ that I became an immediate fan was when the harmonica hit on ‘I Told You That You’d Save My Life’. Instantly, you get hints of Dylan but the vocals of a much more sombre and hopeful kind. Greenall’s best strength is in his subdued and reassuring voice. Each ballad on Waves feels like the softest but tightest of hugs. You never feel overwhelmed or encompassed, just merely lightly coated over and over again while you feel your worries and anxiety slowly dissipate. Perhaps best exemplified in Sunset, the ever so soft ballad that uses minimal piano, exceptionally soft vocals, and a pained harmonica towards the end. There’s also slightly more upbeat tunes like ‘Life Came To Waste Me’, where the arrangement slightly masks the more sombre lyrical content that Greenall is relaying to you.
It’s a folk project that does all the right things. ‘Waves’ combines the minimalism of a songwriter driven project with the subtle elements of old school folk alongside sleek modern elements like the electric guitar on ‘Life Came to Waste Me’ to create a truly holistic piece of equal parts heart-warming and heart-wrenching folk tunes.