Julius Airwave: The City the Forest

The second album from Julius Airwave opens with the brief intro “In the City”, but most of this record is best suited for the open road. A song such as “Glory Glory” has an indie rock foundation, but allows enough space for it to occasionally veer into dance-rock during the chorus. It sounds like something that the National might have come up. The retro dance-rock motif is revisited for “Burning Clouds”. Meanwhile, far more tranquil and uplifting is “Nannerl”, which sounds like mildly like Coldplay without the beefy, arena-sized hook. It’s a very pretty and well-crafted song that ebbs and flows thanks to chief songwriter and singer Rick Colado. But the Julius Airwave has a spring in their step with the delightful Beatles-tinged pop oozing out of “Broken Bells” and the leaner “Fur”, a song the band definitely shines on. The band works through each song without any hassles or problems, even during the quirky but effective mid-tempo “Finale”. There’s also a fresh feeling about the record that makes every song catch your attention, even the keyboard-laced “Shipwreck”. Closing with the spoken word-cum-rock song “Every Little Bit Helps” concludes this impressive release.