A long way off remembering T-shirt weather in 2015 with my feel-good album of last summer, Circa Waves’ new album explores a darker sound and more emotional lyrics. Young Chasers never fails to remind me of summer days lounging around doing nothing. However, you couldn’t help but notice that the album would finish and no one would be sure which song was which or even how many songs there were.

Circa Waves have expertly broken away from this repetitiveness with Different Creatures through ditching the light hearted indie image and swapping in some darker yet refreshing material. Hints that this album is heavier than the last can be seen straight away; the albums artwork strays from the carefree, light blue of before, instead opting for a darker red with a weirdly dark image of eyeballs on plant stems.

I must admit, I took on this album review with some apprehension. Too many indie bands disappoint with their second effort, and I couldn’t see where Circa Waves could go from their last album. However, I was actually very impressed with the first song and listened to the rest of the album eagerly. Particularly striking is the combination of accessible hits with meaningful content, a stark contrast with Young Chaser‘s inclination toward love songs.

This is perfectly exemplifies through ‘Out On My Own’. The song itself is ostensibly a great, sing-along ballad, but the lyrics delve much deeper. They tell of depression and the feeling of being inferior to the men who have gone before you. Depression, particularly among men, is rarely discussed; having Circa Waves dedicate a song to the topic and normalising the feeling is a refreshing change from the monotonous love songs which fill the charts.

Freya Hillyer