New Joywave Single Serves as ‘Contemplative and Collective Sigh’
Almost a year to the day that the Rochester-based alt/rock band Joywave released its third album, Possession, the band has released “After Coffee,” a somber synth-pop song it offers as “a contemplative and collective sigh set to music, ruminating over the pleasures of the mundane,” as it’s put in a press release.
“Some listeners will undoubtedly hear their own 2020 experiences in the lyrics, but to me it’s just waking up, pouring the coffee, petting the cat, and enjoying the silence,” says Joywave frontman Daniel Armbruster.
Joywave, the featured artist on a recent Grammy Spotlight Saturday series for March, first came together in 2010. A series of mixtapes and EPs followed as did Big Data’s RIAA platinum certified 2013 single, “Dangerous (Feat. Joywave),” a No. 1 hit at alternative radio. The band’s full-length debut, How Do You Feel Now?, spawned a string of multi-format hits, including “Destruction,” multiple versions of which were then showcased on 2016’s remix collection, Swish.
The following year, the band’s 2017 effort, Content, made a top 10 debut on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart thanks to hits such as “Doubt” and “It’s A Trip!” In the wake of that release, Joywave delivered show-stealing sets at international festivals such as Lollapalooza, Coachella, Firefly and the Reading/Leeds and supported like-minded artists as the Killers, Bastille, Young the Giant, Cold War Kids, Bleachers, Metric, Sir Sly and Bishop Briggs. As you can imagine, the band can’t wait to safely hit the road once more.
Photo: Mary Ellen Matthews
