Weaves, #53.

“I don’t wanna think about you again,” sneers Jasmyn Burke, rather jubilantly, come the abreactive chorus of Weaves’ comeback track, #53; and while a few more thoughts could have been afforded the Toronto four-piece since the release of their self-titled début album some thirteen-or-so months ago, this visceral latest – “based on initial instinct”, on which Burke “let out how [she] was feeling about a lot of things” – is as vivid a reminder of their explosive vibrance as we could’ve hoped for.

Comprising the opening four minutes from their forthcoming sophomore full-length, Wide Open, it’ll likely be earmarked as a remarkably – even unprecedentedly – expansive return, as Morgan Waters’ rampaging guitar keeps pace with a Born to Run-ready synth line. (“Blowing up a regular life into something like an anthem” was, after all, the intention both of Burke & Co. this time of asking, and that of a certain blue-collar crooner way back whenever. “In a way I was thinking about it like Bruce Springsteen, but in a lot of ways my experience of the world couldn’t be less like Bruce Springsteen’s”, she’s also said of a record intended to resonate at “a time when a lot of younger people feel helpless”.) But Weaves’ very evident embracing of a(n at least outwardly) more extrovert sound is seemingly less to their detriment than credit, and is something that ought to provide decided hope for both the band and (what we can only assume will be) an exponentially expanding fanbase likewise…

Wide Open is available from October 6th via Memphis Industries, while Weaves play Oslo on November 21st.