Surfaces does a wonderful job subverting expectations with their newest single, Wave of You, by blending sounds from indie, R&B, jazz, and rock.

On the surface, especially within the first minute or so, Wave of You seems like your average lo-fi R&B song. Sure, it has very strong melodies and a killer bluesy neo-soul guitar loop, but it doesn’t too much to push the boundaries from the get go. It’s simply a very solid song within that genre. However, about half-way through the song, the harmonies grow thicker, giving a far more indie vibe to the track. There’s almost a country twang to the composition at that point, which gives it very interesting colours. Meanwhile, in the background, the composition grows more and more dynamic, getting more exciting with each new measure. There’s already hints with what to come with the mid-heavy guitars playing in the chorus. Those foreshadow the bridge section, which just straight up sounds like an alt rock track with 808s. There’s even hints of real drums in the bridge, fully kicking in after the following chorus and complimenting the electric rhythm section with a steady ride and some tasteful fills. The final chorus comes to a close with a Fender-sounding guitar solo similar to legendary classic rock songs. After the energy boils over, the lone neo-soul guitar carries the song out with the same choir that introduced the song, bringing the song to a not-so-perfect, but extremely appropriate loop. The end connects extremely well with the beginning, feeling very circular in terms of composition and production. The production itself is also quite nice and clean, but growing gritty and dirty right when it needs to during the tail end of the song when the full rock band kicks in.

Wave of You might sound a bit familiar at first, but one listen is all it takes to sell the clever tricks Surfaces pulled in this song. It’s a great track to listen year-round, though there are definitely hints of summer tones with that pop-punk infused overdriven guitar chord progression during the last third of the tune.

Author: Nicholas Gaudet

Music producer and writer from Dieppe, Canada.