BEST NEW ALTERNATIVE POP: DAY WAVE - SOMETHING HERE

Day Wave’s music is an escape. Even though Jackson Phillips' first full-length album, Days We Had, won’t be released until May, I wouldn’t consider him a new artist. Since his first song premiered in 2015, Day Wave has developed a distinct shoe gaze sound. All of his music has a fuzzy quality to it, and his latest song release, “Something Here,” is also a bit hazy.

Phillips, a multi-instrumentalist, uses waves of synths that rush into spiraling drums and reverb. Basically, “Something Here” is perfect festival season bait – best paired with a wide brim hat, an open field, and a crowd swaying in unison with both arms waving. It proves that songs don’t always have to be intellectual or complicated to be affecting. The lyrics are muffled, like a secret, except for the chorus: “There's something here / And my head feels heavy.” After four minutes of fluffy bliss, the song ends with an echoing cymbal tap that reintroduces you to your reality.

DAY WAVE - SOMETHING HERE

Make no mistake, I’m not saying this song is genius. It’s not groundbreaking music, but that’s okay.  “Something Here” forces listeners to stop and in today’s complicated world, we all could use a little break.