Rogue Wave - Delusions of Grand Fur

Rogue Wave
Delusions of Grand Fur
2016
Spotify

Pretty songs have never been an issue for Rogue Wave. There is a reason why you find so many of their tracks on TV shows and in Movies because their sound just evokes a sense of beauty and majesty. It is music for a car driving off into the sunset, even if the lyrics don't quite match that sentiment. However in Indie-Pop and the genres that split off from that starting point the focus is usually put on poignant and smart lyrics, not just pretty ones. That is kind of the place that Rogue Wave find themselves with this sixth studio album Delusions of Grand Fur, at the crossroads between making easy, dreamy indie-pop or moving forward into something new, pushing their potential forward. This album however tows the line, but I'll be damned if it doesn't sound really pleasant. "In the Morning" has this stomping rhythm that is not Mumford & Son's level folksy but has just enough of that to give it some twang and swing. Rogue Wave are at their best when there is quite a bit going on, a lot of sound coming at you. This is not quiet music, though sometimes they try to be, but this should be yelled on top of mountains or overlaid on top of some grand gesture. The place where Rogue Wave suffers however is when they try to complicate it. If you listen to the lyrics they are often overblown and seem to be striving for that great American song writer credit rather than taking a nod from the actual music they produce.

You can't help but get the sense that the world has most likely passed Rogue Wave by however. The music would fit perfect in about 2005, and really have a lot more meaning and connection, but that style just doesn't exist here anymore and it doesn't have the same appeal. The first two tracks on the record are probably it's best and have the most backing behind them. They feel full where the rest of the record just comes across as hollow. "Curious Me" which feels like a nod to the lo-fi past of Rogue Wave is just uninspired lacking that emotional depth that may have been there on previous albums. Some of the tracks here work extremely well though hence that sense of one foot in and one foot out like Zach Rogue has grown tired of this project and is planning a move even though some great Rogue Wave songs are swirling around in his head. The clearest examples of this are songs like "What Is Left to Solve" where you actually find electronica synthy sounds creeping in. Delusions of Grand Fur is an impasse record leaving the door open for more of the same or a total reinvention. The problem is Rogue Wave takes the middle path, and thus we get a record that is a bit confusing though the moments can be really special. It will be interesting to see where Rogue Wave goes next, because it could very well be somewhere quite surprising.

6.5 out of 10