Artist: Highland Eyeway
Album: Waiting for Your Love EP
Year: 2018
Hometown: Vancouver, British Columbia
If there was genre of music that could be used to describe Vancouver’s well known rainy day aesthetic; it would be the calm sounds of shoegaze. This is especially the case with Highland Eyeway’s new three-track EP: Waiting for Your Love.
The genres you would usually describe Highland Eyeway’s particular sound would be a crossroads between psychedelic rock, shoegaze, and punk. The album’s first track “Sleeping in the Sun,” embodies a free flowing vibe you would come to expect from an artist of this style. The track is much more calm than the next two, bringing sensations of relaxation.
With the titular “Waiting for Your Love,” while it does have the same trippy elements as “Sleeping in the Sun,” this track has a much more defined melody, at least at the beginning. Eventually, everything starts to melt together, thanks in part to the fuzz of the guitars.
“Trust” is much more aggressive in tone, melody, and vocals. It is more-so a punk rock song with grunge elements. While the first two tracks have calming, obscured vocals paired with a mixture of clean and fuzzy tones that make you feel like you’re floating in air, “Trust” is very in your face. It has a fast tempo, vocals that scream right at you and, crunchy guitars that add a sense of disparity.
The best way to describe this album is to call it an experience. There isn’t just one part that can be appreciated individually. Rather, each layer of instruments compliment each other. Waiting for Your Love EP starts off with a much more chill, relaxing vibe and its ending offers a completely opposite interaction than the start.