nouvelle vague by wave to earth
first post of 2024!
January 2024
Hi hello! Welcome back to the first review of the year, I hope you all had a great new year and have an awesome 2024.
This year you will expect many more things from me (apart from the weekly reviews), i’m super excited to become more creative with the structure I have now and make the Sound Scoop a fun newsletter to read for everyone :)
Let’s begin with this week’s review which I am so excited about:
The song I chose is by my all-time favorite band wave to earth, a South Korean indie rock band consisting of Kim Daniel, Shin Donggyu, and Cha Soonjong. The band was formed when Kim Daniel and Shin Dongkyu were in middle school and as they mentioned in an interview with Allure Korea, they formed a band with the ambition of "showing the music that makes a new wave."
wave to earth debuted with the song "wave" in 2019, followed by their first EP "wave 0.01" in 2020
The song I chose for this week by them is nouvelle vague. This song was originally released in 2021 and later formed part of their 2023 album “0.1 flaws and all.”
As the title of the song, nouvelle vague is originally a French term that means “new wave”. This phrase is used in the chorus to imply a desire for something different, something that transcends the hardships of the present and the past
They discuss the struggle of moving forward in life when you are acknowledging and longing for the past and are questioning the future. They mention how in life some paths have been walked and how our paths are constantly overdoing change whether we like it or not.
If I am fully honest, I wasn’t so conscious of the deep meaning present in the song because the majority of the lyrics are in Korean. But after knowing and listening to the song with the knowledge of the lyrics, it makes sense.
The rhythm is quick and continuous, almost creating an upbeat atmosphere. But after each chorus it slows down once again, sort of portraying the flexibility in the path of life and how it can change.
My favorite part of this song is how at the last minute, the beat slows down and we go into a muffled drums and saxophone section until the end. I love this part because we can audibly hear the feeling of wanting to slow down, not enter the future, and forever hold onto the past. The listener can match the message of the song to its feeling when listening.
Favorite Verse
숨이 멎을 때쯤엔 걸음을 멈출까
되돌아갈 곳도 이젠 흐려져
앞으로 가다 보면 뭔가 볼 수 있나
사실 그게 뭔지 기대도 없어
(translation below)
Will my footsteps stop by the time I'm out of breath?
The place to go back is fogged up now
If we go forward, would there be something to see?
I really have no expectations, yeah
I hope you enjoyed this week’s review, I recommend you listen to their most recent album “0.1 flaws and all”, it is the perfect vibey and relaxing album.
Thank you for waiting for my return! I’ll be back next week
Larissa <3
(ps. i’ll include pictures now so you can see the artists while learning about them!)